Soft Robotic Hand With Finger-Bending/Friction-Reduction Switching Mechanism Through 1-Degree-of-Freedom Flow Control
Toshihiro Nishimura, Kensuke Shimizu, Seita Nojiri, Kenjiro Tadakuma, Yosuke Suzuki, Tokuo Tsuji, Tetsuyou Watanabe
Abstract
This letter proposes a novel pneumatic soft robotic hand that incorporates a mechanism that can switch the airflow path using a single airflow control. The developed hand can control the finger motion and operate the surface friction variable mechanism. In the friction variable mechanism, a lubricant is injected onto the high-friction finger surface to reduce surface friction. To inject the lubrication using a positive-pressure airflow, the Venturi effect is applied. The design and evaluation of the airflow-path switching and friction variable mechanisms are described. Moreover, the entire design of a soft robotic hand equipped with these mechanisms is presented. The performance was validated through grasping, placing, and manipulation tests.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{ral2022_softrobotichandw,
title = {Soft Robotic Hand With Finger-Bending/Friction-Reduction Switching Mechanism Through 1-Degree-of-Freedom Flow Control},
author = {Toshihiro Nishimura and Kensuke Shimizu and Seita Nojiri and Kenjiro Tadakuma and Yosuke Suzuki and Tokuo Tsuji and Tetsuyou Watanabe},
booktitle = {RA-L 2022},
year = {2022}
}