3D printed elastomer gripper with integrated multifunctional wireless sensors

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17H07255
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Intelligent mechanics/Mechanical systems
• Research Institution: Ritsumeikan University
• Principal Investigator: Zhu Mingzhu 立命館大学, 立命館グローバル・イノベーション研究機構, 研究員 (50806180)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-08-25 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: Soft gripper / 3D printing

Outline of Final Research Achievements

First, soft fingers were designed based on elastomer fluid actuators with integrated strain sensors. Finger body was made of Dragon skin and the strain sensors were made of carbon nanotubes composite. Finger deformation was controlled by regulation chamber pressure, and finger shape can be calculated through sensor's resistance change. Then multi-material 3D printing technique was used to directly print out the soft-bodied finger. Low stiffness of soft fingers can lead to unstable or even failed grasping, soft robotic gripper with variable stiffness was developed in response to this limitation. The proposed finger includes a pneumatic actuator and an integrated layer jamming unit. Grasping robustness of the proposed gripper can be guaranteed when the robotic arm is moving at high acceleration. Pressure sensors were integrated into the jamming layers to monitor the stiffness change of the finger.

Free Research Field

Robotics

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

Development of controllable soft robotic gripper is important to achieving the real-life requirement of manipulating fragile and delicate objects with high accuracy. This research contains the design and fabrication of soft gripper that can be used in industrial pick-and-place tasks.