A gripper for general purposes with grasping and holding capabilities enabled by a simple control scheme. The gripper is a combination of soft materials, underactuated mechanisms, and a bioinspired design. 

The actuation mechanism is based on the control of a single cable tension, which enables a grasping adaptable to objects of different shape. 

Bioinspired Soft Robotic Gripper

The actuation mechanism is based on the control of a single cable tension, which enables a grasping adaptable to objects of different shape.The soft robotic gripper is made of three identical soft fingers that are connected to a rigid frame and are controlled by a DC motor through a cable based mechanism. The gripper doesn't hasve a rigid skeleton. The finger design is based on the biological dimensions of a human finger. Each element is made of three phalanges, each of which is separated by triangular cuts with an angle of 45 degrees. The &nbsp;length of each finger is 135mm. The gripper has an actuation mechanism based on a single cable and a rotary DC motor with a magnetic incremental encoder and coupled with a planetary gearhead. The cable path is inside the phalanges’ body using dedicated holes without interfering with the grasped object. To reduce the friction between the cable and the fingers, silicone tubes have been inserted into the channels. Both ends of the cable are anchored on a spool, which is fixed to the motor shaft and located at the base of the gripper. When the motor is actuated, the cable ends are wound on the spool, and as a consequence, the reduced length of the cable produces bending in the finger.

Describes the project via an introduction, and has a soft gripper description and fabrication section. Goes into the manufacturing process, and experimental tests. 

A Bioinspired Soft Robotic Gripper for Adaptable and Effective Grasping

Overall dimensions

Weight 

Tip to tip distance

Maximum grasping force

Vertical resistive force

Horizontal resistive force

A gripper for general purposes with grasping and holding capabilities enabled by a simple control scheme. The gripper is a combination of soft materials, underactuated mechanisms, and a bioinspired design. 

Overall dimensions	40 · 55 · 135	mm3
Weight	110	g (excluding the DC motor)
Tip to tip distance	40	mm (@rest position)
Tip to tip distance	200	mm (@ max opening)
Maximum grasping force	3	N
Vertical resistive force	25	N