Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vvkck Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T23:31:02.040Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A design of underwater soft gripper with water pressure sensing and enhanced stiffness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2022

Jingke Huang ,
Zhanhua Wang ,
Jianda Li  and
Zhijie Tang Open the ORCID record for Zhijie Tang [Opens in a new window]
Jingke Huang
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
Zhanhua Wang
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
Jianda Li
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
Zhijie Tang*
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: tangzhijie@shu.edu.cn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this paper, a hydraulic soft gripper for underwater applications is designed to provide a solution for improving the gripping force as well as the sensing capability of the soft gripper. The soft gripper is made of silicone and has an integrated semi-circular hydraulic network inside. To enhance the rigidity and grasping performance of the soft gripper, we have integrated a restriction layer consisting of a spring steel plate in the soft gripper. Meanwhile, to enhance the sensing capability of this soft gripper, we have designed a water pressure sensor based on resistance strain gauges and integrated it on the spring steel plate. Before fabrication, we determined the structural parameters of the soft gripper by geometric analysis. Then we experimentally evaluated its pressure-bearing capacity, bending performance, the role of spring steel plates, and the accuracy of the sensor.The experimental results show that the spring steel plate improves the gripping force of the soft gripper, the sensor also has high accuracy, and the built four-finger gripping system has good adaptability to objects of different shapes and weights.Compared with the existing solutions, this solution takes a simpler structural form while improving the gripping force and sensing ability of the soft gripper, and integrates the issues of improving the gripping force and sensing ability. The spring steel plate used in this paper not only improves the gripping force of the soft gripper but also provides a stable and reliable platform for installing sensors.

Keywords

hydraulicsoft gripperspring steel platewater pressure sensorresistance strain gauges
Type
Research Article
Information
Robotica , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , February 2023 , pp. 548 - 565
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Paley, D. A. and Wereley, N. M.. Bioinspired Sensing, Actuation, and Control in Underwater Soft Robotic Systems (Springer, Switzerland, 2021).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sivčev, S., Coleman, J., Omerdić, E. Dooly, G. and D. Toal, “Underwater manipulators: A review,” Ocean Eng. 163(1), 431–450 (2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Y., Wang, S., Wei, Q. Tan, M., Zhou, C. and Yu, J., “Development of an underwater manipulator and its free-floating autonomous operation,” IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron. 21(2), 815–824 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yoerger, D. R., Schempf, H. and DiPietro, D. M., “Design and performance evaluation of an actively compliant underwater manipulator for full-ocean depth,” J. Robot. Syst. 8(3), 371–392 (1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roche, E. T., Wohlfarth, R., Overvelde, J. T. Vasilyev, N. V., Pigula, F. A., Mooney, D. J., Bertoldi, K. and Walsh, C. J., “A bioinspired soft actuated material,” Adv. Mater. 26(8), 1200–1206 (2014).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ilievski, F., Mazzeo, A. D., Shepherd, R. F. Chen, X. and Whitesides, G. M., “Soft robotics for chemists,” Angew. Chem. 123(8), 1930–1935 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Majidi, C., “Soft robotics: A perspective—Current trends and prospects for the future,” Soft Robot. 1(1), 5–11 (2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polygerinos, P., Wang, Z., Galloway, K. C. Wood, R. J. and Walsh, C. J., “Soft robotic glove for combined assistance and at-home rehabilitation,” Robot. Autonom. Syst. 73, 135–143 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitesides, G. M., “Soft robotics,” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 57(16), 4258–4273 (2018).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Galloway, K. C., Becker, K. P., Phillips, B. Kirby, J., Licht, S., Tchernov, D., Wood, R. J. and Gruber, D. F., “Soft robotic grippers for biological sampling on deep reefs,” Soft Robot. 3(1), 23–33 (2016).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dilibal, S., Sahin, H., Danquah, J. O., M. O. F. Emon and J. W. Choi, “Additively manufactured custom soft gripper with embedded soft force sensors for an industrial robot,” Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manufact. 22(4), 709–718 (2021).Google Scholar
Kurumaya, S., Phillips, B. T., Becker, K. P. Rosen, M. H., Gruber, D. F., Galloway, K. C., Suzumori, K. and Wood, R. J., “A modular soft robotic wrist for underwater manipulation,” Soft Robot. 5(4), 399–409 (2018).Google ScholarPubMed
Onal, C. D. and Rus, D., “A Modular Approach to Soft Robots,” In: 2012 4th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob) (IEEE, 2012) pp. 1038–1045.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dilibal, S., Sahin, H. and Celik, Y., “Experimental and numerical analysis on the bending response of the geometrically gradient soft robotics actuator,” Arch. Mech. 70(5), 391–404 (2018).Google Scholar
Rus, D. and Tolley, M. T., “Design, fabrication and control of soft robots,” Nature 521(7553), 467–475 (2015).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Natividad, R., Del Rosario, M. Jr., Chen, P. C. and C. H. Yeow, “A reconfigurable pneumatic bending actuator with replaceable inflation modules,” Soft Robot. 5(3), 304–317 (2018).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yuk, H., Lin, S., Ma, C. Takaffoli, M., Fang, N. X. and Zhao, X., “Hydraulic hydrogel actuators and robots optically and sonically camouflaged in water,” Nat. Commun. 8(1), 1–12 (2017).Google ScholarPubMed
Lane, D. M., Davies, J. B. C., Robinson, G. O’Brien, D. J., Sneddon, J., Seaton, E. and Elfstrom, A., “The amadeus dextrous subsea hand: Design, modeling, and sensor processing,” IEEE J. Ocean. Eng. 24(1), 96–111 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, G. P., Henshaw, C. G., Walker, I. D. and Willimon, B., “Autonomous Robotic Refueling of an Unmanned Surface Vehicle in Varying Sea States,” In: 2015 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) (IEEE, 2015) pp. 1664–1671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zs, S., Zh, G. and Tang, W., “Design of wearable hand rehabilitation glove with soft hoop-reinforced pneumatic actuator,” J. Central South Univ. 26(1), 106–119 (2019).Google Scholar
Fu, H. C., Ho, J. D., Lee, K. H. Hu, Y. C., Au, S. K., Cho, K. J., Sze, K. Y. and Kwok, K. W., “Interfacing soft and hard: A spring reinforced actuator,” Soft Robot. 7(1), 44–58 (2020).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrow, N. and Correll, N., “A Soft Pneumatic Actuator that Can Sense Grasp and Touch,” In: 2015 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) (IEEE, 2015) pp. 2317–2323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, Y. L., Chen, B. R. and Wood, R. J., “Design and fabrication of soft artificial skin using embedded microchannels and liquid conductors,” IEEE Sens. J. 12(8), 2711–2718 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, P., Jiangbei, W. and Yanqiong, F., “The structure, design, and closed-loop motion control of a differential drive soft robot,” Soft Robot. 5(1), 71–80 (2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polygerinos, P., Wang, Z., Overvelde, J. T. Galloway, K. C., Wood, R. J., Bertoldi, K. and Walsh, C. J., “Modeling of soft fiber-reinforced bending actuators,” IEEE Trans. Robot. 31(3), 778–789 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deimel, R. and Brock, O., “A Compliant Hand Based on A Novel Pneumatic Actuator,” In: 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (IEEE, 2013) pp. 2047–2053.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffmann, K., An introduction to stress analysis and transducer design using strain gauges (2012).Google Scholar
Şahin, H., “Modal frequency analyses of the variable stiffness mechanism design of the soft robotic system,” Int. J. 3D Print. Technol. Dig. Ind. 5(3), 372–389 (2021).Google Scholar