TransSoft: The Low-Cost, Adaptable, and Radial Reconfigurable Soft Hand for Diverse Object Grasping

Abstract

This paper presents TransSoft, a novel soft robotic hand with a reconfigurable design for grasping objects of varying properties. While recent soft robotic hands have improved grasping capabilities, they often struggle with a limited range of manipulable object categories and tasks due to hardware constraints. TransSoft addresses these limitations with a scalable, low-cost, and highly adaptable structure that significantly expands the diversity of graspable objects and executable tasks. Unlike previous designs, TransSoft features a unique kinematic structure that enhances radial reconfigurability, allowing it to adjust grasping strategies dynamically based on object size, shape, and material properties. The hand is cost-effective, built from off-the-shelf components in three hours for just $200. We evaluated TransSoft through extensive real-world grasping experiments, and the results demonstrate its superior adaptability and grasping performance. Supplementary materials, including design details and experiment results, are available on our project website<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">†</sup>.