Abstract
It is an emerging challenge for robots to achieve non-destructive pick-and-place manipulation for delicate objects under low normal preload, i.e., critical-contact manipulation. The prominent on-off controllable property of the gecko-inspired microwedge adhesive makes critical-contact manipulation possible for robotic end effectors. However, it is difficult for end effectors to actuate the micron-scale microwedge adhesive and detect the adhesion state. In this paper, a gecko-inspired adhesive robotic end effector for critical-contact manipulation is proposed, which consists of a half-scissor variable-scale actuator, a 3-axis high-sensitivity isotropic flexible capacitive tactile sensor, and the microwedge adhesive. The half-scissor variable-scale actuator is designed to provide pure large shear loading for the microwedge adhesive at micron-scale displacement by merely controlling the normal macro-scale displacement of the actuator. Besides, the 3-axis high-sensitivity isotropic flexible capacitive tactile sensor is designed for accurate detection of multi-axis contact forces and the adhesion state between the adhesive and objects to ensure the success of the critical-contact manipulation. The sensor can sense the shear and normal forces by detecting variations of the overlap and distance between electrodes, while the design of the finger-like electrodes improves the sensitivity. In addition, a set of experiments on manipulating objects are implemented and the results show that the proposed robotic end effector can provide pure large shear loading for the microwedge adhesive at micron-scale displacement and can detect the adhesion state between the microwedge adhesive and objects accurately to stably grasp delicate objects in critical-contact condition.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cui J, Lai M, Chu Z Y, et al. Experiment on impedance adaptation of under-actuated gripper using tactile array under unknown environment. Sci China Inf Sci, 2018, 61: 122202
Cheng X R, Xie X L, Bian G B, et al. A simulator with an elastic guidewire and vascular system for minimally invasive vascular surgery. Sci China Inf Sci, 2018, 61: 104201
Liu Z J, Han Z J, Zhao Z J, et al. Modeling and adaptive control for a spatial flexible spacecraft with unknown actuator failures. Sci China Inf Sci, 2021, 64: 152208
He W, Mu X, Zhang L, et al. Modeling and trajectory tracking control for flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles. IEEE/CAA J Autom Sin, 2020, 8: 148–156
He W, Wang T, He X, et al. Dynamical modeling and boundary vibration control of a rigid-flexible wing system. IEEE/ASME Trans Mechatron, 2020, 25: 2711–2721
Wang Y, Yang X, Chen Y, et al. A biorobotic adhesive disc for underwater hitchhiking inspired by the remora suckerfish. Sci Robot, 2017, 2: eaan8072
Hu Q, Dong E, Cheng G, et al. Inchworm-inspired soft climbing robot using microspine arrays. In: Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Macau, 2019. 5800–5805
Hawkes E W, Jiang H, Cutkosky M R, et al. Three-dimensional dynamic surface grasping with dry adhesion. Ind Robot, 2016, 35: 943–958
Chu Z, Wang C, Hai X, et al. Analysis and measurement of adhesive behavior for gecko-inspired synthetic microwedge structure. Adv Mater Interfaces, 2019, 6: 1900283
Tao D, Gao X, Lu H, et al. Controllable anisotropic dry adhesion in vacuum: gecko inspired wedged surface fabricated with ultraprecision diamond cutting. Adv Funct Mater, 2017, 27: 1606576
Hu H, Tian H, Shao J, et al. Friction contribution to bioinspired mushroom-shaped dry adhesives. Adv Mater Interfaces, 2017, 4: 1700016
Gillies A G, Kwak J, Fearing R S. Controllable particle adhesion with a magnetically actuated synthetic gecko adhesive. Adv Funct Mater, 2013, 23: 3256–3261
Simaite A, Temple B, Karimi M A, et al. Understanding the influence of silicone elastomer properties on wedge-shaped microstructured dry adhesives loaded in shear. J R Soc Interface, 2018, 15: 20180551
Hawkes E W, Christensen D L, Eason E V, et al. Dynamic surface grasping with directional adhesion. In: Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Tokyo, 2013. 5487–5493
Parness A, Heverly M, Hilgemann E, et al. On-off adhesive grippers for earth-orbit. In: Proceedings of AIAA SPACE 2013 Conference and Exposition, San Diego, 2013. 5533–5543
Jiang H, Hawkes E W, Arutyunov V, et al. Scaling controllable adhesives to grapple floating objects in space. In: Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Seattle, 2015. 2828–2835
Dadkhah M, Zhao Z, Wettels N, et al. A self-aligning gripper using an electrostatic/gecko-like adhesive. In: Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Daejeon, 2016. 1006–1011
Jiang H, Hawkes E W, Fuller C, et al. A robotic device using gecko-inspired adhesives can grasp and manipulate large objects in microgravity. Sci Robot, 2017, 2: eaan4545
Jiang S, Hu Y, Wu H, et al. Multifunctional janus microplates arrays actuated by magnetic fields for water/light switches and bio-inspired assimilatory coloration. Adv Mater, 2019, 31: 1807507
Glick P, Suresh S A, Ruffatto D, et al. A soft robotic gripper with gecko-inspired adhesive. IEEE Robot Autom Lett, 2018, 3: 903–910
Modabberifar M, Spenko M. A shape memory alloy-actuated gecko-inspired robotic gripper. Sens Actuat A-Phys, 2018, 276: 76–82
Kim U, Lee D H, Kim Y B, et al. A novel six-axis force/torque sensor for robotic applications. IEEE/ASME Trans Mechatron, 2017, 22: 1381–1391
Liang G, Wang Y, Mei D, et al. Flexible capacitive tactile sensor array with truncated pyramids as dielectric layer for three-axis force measurement. J Microelectromech Syst, 2015, 24: 1510–1519
Shao C, Asano S, Muroyama M, et al. Connection of 48 sensors on the same serial bus line for human-inspired event-driven tactile sensation covering wide spatial range over 2 meters at millimeter resolution. In: Proceedings of IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), Belfast, 2018. 866–869
Liu P, Yan P. A new model analysis approach for bridge-type amplifiers supporting nano-stage design. Mechanism Machine Theor, 2016, 99: 176–188
Xie X, Bigdeli K M, Liu S, et al. Micro motion amplifiers for compact out-of-plane actuation. Micromachines, 2018, 9: 365
Song S, Drotlef D M, Majidi C, et al. Controllable load sharing for soft adhesive interfaces on three-dimensional surfaces. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2017, 114: E4344–E4353
Modabberifar M, Spenko M. Development of a gecko-like robotic gripper using Scott-Russell mechanisms. Robotica, 2020, 38: 541–549
Sinatra N R, Teeple C B, Vogt D M, et al. Ultragentle manipulation of delicate structures using a soft robotic gripper. Sci Robot, 2019, 4: eaax5425
Elgeneidy K, Lightbody P, Pearson S, et al. Characterising 3D-printed soft fin ray robotic fingers with layer jamming capability for delicate grasping. In: Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft), Seoul, 2019. 143–148
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51975021, U1913206, 61773028).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chu, Z., Deng, J., Su, L. et al. A gecko-inspired adhesive robotic end effector for critical-contact manipulation. Sci. China Inf. Sci. 65, 182203 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-020-3152-7
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-020-3152-7