| project specification

Squishy Fingers

An underwater gripper that utilizes soft robotics technology to delicately manipulate and sample fragile species on the deep reef. This device is soft, flexible, and customizable, and allows scientists to gently grab different types of organisms from the sea without damaging them, and 3D-print modifications to the device overnight without the need to return to a land-based laboratory. The soft robotic actuators used in these grippers have no moving parts such as pin joints, gears, or linkages, and are modularly coupled to a palm.

aquatic exploration - grippers - soft robotics

Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering

Overview

This device is soft, flexible, and customizable, and allows scientists to gently grab different types of organisms from the sea without damaging them, and 3D-print modifications to the device overnight without the need to return to a land-based laboratory.

The soft robotic actuators used in these grippers have no moving parts such as pin joints, gears, or linkages, and are modularly coupled to a palm.

Specifications

Ideally suited for gripping and manipulating delicate objects and complex shapes
Using a single tendon to drive each finger
Coupling the rigid polymer phalanges of each finger with elastomeric flexure joints