Session: 07-03-02: Design and Control of Robots, Mechanisms and Structures

Paper Number: 95204

95204 - Development of a Compliant Gripper Driven by 3 DOF Soft Robot 

Industrial robots are moving toward automation, which makes it increasingly necessary to replace the functions traditionally performed by humans with robots. Pick and place operation is a prime example of such automation in which the objects are picked from one location and dropped to another. Robots that pick up and place objects mimic the human action of picking an object up and placing it in a targeted location. It has led to the development of robotic end-effectors that have a human-like feel. Grippers can be articulated in various ways depending on their application area and well-defined desired tasks. As compliant and soft links deflect more under the same load than their rigid body counterparts, they serve as excellent candidates for use in the design and development of grippers for handling delicate objects. 

This study presents the design, development, and experimental testing of a single piece designed compliant gripper manipulated by a 3 DOF soft robot. The manipulator consists of two soft links. While the bottom arm is 2 DOF and is tendon driven by two servo motors, the upper arm is a single degree of freedom and is also tendon driven by a servo motor. The two-finger-designed compliant gripper is also actuated by a servo motor. The base of the robot holds the motors and the soft manipulator.  The MATLAB Simscape model of the robot is created to perform deformation and motion analysis of the gripper and soft manipulator. The cad model of the robot is imported, and the manipulator parts are converted into soft links using discrete beam elements. The large deflecting hinges on the compliant grippers are also transformed to mimic the physical gripper. Since the soft manipulator and the compliant gripper were designed monolithically, the robot was 3D printed as a single piece using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The gripper is tested for its grasping and lifting performance while recording the applied forces by the gripper using a Flex sensor.  Using the opencv tool for image processing and object analysis, we used a dual-camera setup with a known environment to add intelligence to the robot. With the cameras, the location of the targeted object is detected which allows a sense of environmental understanding. Once the object location is known, by calculating the distance between the gripper and the object, the motors will orient the gripper towards the object. Since the manipulator is designed as soft, the gripper can reach any position within its working space with any orientation.

Presenting Author: Ricardo Ramirez Kennesaw State University

Presenting Author Biography: Ricardo Ramirez is an undergraduate student in the mechanical engineering department.

Authors:

Ricardo Ramirez Kennesaw State University
Pt Angel Tran Kennesaw State University
Derek Price Kennesaw State University
Amir Ali Amiri Moghadam Kennesaw State University
Ayse Tekes Kennesaw State University