Analysis of Contact Force and Shape Change on Grasping a Square Object Using an Actual Fin Ray Soft Gripper

Abstract

The Fin Ray-type soft gripper (FRSG) is a typical soft gripper structure and applies the deformation characteristics of the Fin Ray structure. This structure functions to stabilize the grasping of an object by passive deformation due to external forces. To analyze the performance of detailed force without compromising the actual FRSG characteristics, it is effective to incorporate multiple force sensors into the grasping object without installing them inside the Fin Ray structure. Since the grasping characteristics of the FRSG are greatly affected by the arrangement of the crossbeams, it is also important to understand the correspondence between the forces and the geometry. In addition, the grasping characteristics of an angular object have not been verified in actual equipment. Therefore, in this study, a contact force measurement device with 16 force sensors built into the grasping object and a structural deformation measurement device using camera images were used to analyze the correspondence between force and structural deformation on an actual FRSG. In the experiment, we analyzed the influence of the crossbeam arrangement on the grasping force and the grasping conditions of the square (0°) and rectangular (45°) shapes, and state that an ideal grasp in a square-shaped (45°) grasp is possible if each crossbeam in the FRSG is arranged at a different angle.

Keywords

• soft robotics
• robotics
• soft robot gripper
• Fin Ray effect
• gripping performance evaluation