Layer jamming-based soft robotic hand with variable stiffness for compliant and effective grasping

Abstract

A novel variable stiffness soft robotic hand (SRH) consists of three pieces of layer jamming structure (LJS) is proposed. The mechanism is driven by the motor-based tendon along the surface of the pieces that connect to individual gas channel. Each LJS is optimised by adhering a thin layer of hot melt adhesive and overlapping the spring steel sheet as inner layer material. It can be switched between rigid and compliant independently. The structures of variable stiffness and tendon-driven lead to various deformation poses. Then the control system of SRH and the performance analysis of the LJS are introduced. Finally, the experiments are implemented to prove the superiority of the proposed LJS and the demonstrations show that the designed robotic hand has multiple configurations to successfully grasp various objects.