Design and Analysis of Adaptive Compliant Gripper Mechanism Based on Antagonistic Actuator System

Abstract

Adaptive gripping is a major functionality of robots used in logistics for food packaging and manufacturing industry. Due to the irregular and free-form shapes of the target objects, the problem statement is considered very challenging. In this research, we propose a novel Adaptive Compliant Gripper that combines the technologies of soft grippers and rigid grippers inspired by human fingers. This design focuses on an antagonistic actuator system based on cable actuation and curved-beam compliant springs that mimic the antagonistic muscle actuation in human fingers. To achieve higher power efficiency, the gripper can passively grasp irregular shape objects. FEA results on the design and mathematical models predict accurate functionality of the compliant mechanism. The grip force and deformation relations are validated by experimental results, showing a slight difference between calculated and observed values. Further, the gripper is tested with different shaped objects to verify adaptivity.