Shape, Size, and Fabrication Effects in 3D Printed Granular Jamming Grippers

Howard, David; O'Connor, Jack; Brett, James; Delaney, Gary W.

doi:10.1109/robosoft51838.2021.9479438

Cited by 24 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Granular jamming grippers present a range of design variables that can be tuned to elicit specific performance regimes. Grain size, shape, and softness have been shown to have a significant effect on gripper performance, confirmed by studies of natural [17], manufactured [18] and 3D printed [15], [19] grains. Grains are relatively simple to study as a range of candidates is readily available.…”

Section: B Jamming Gripper Design Explorationmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Bag grippers have subsequently appeared across a wide range of application domains, including prosthesis [11], underwater manipulation for deep sea missions [12], industrial gripping [13], and as paws for legged robots [14]. A range of further studies have explored the effects of, e.g., pressure, grain shape, and grain size, using a bag-style gripper to conduct those experiments (e.g., [15]). Bag grippers have also been combined with learning algorithms [16] for objectspecific grasp strategies.…”

Section: A Granular Jamming In Soft Roboticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Getting a Grip: in Materio Evolution of Membrane Morphology for Soft Robotic Jamming Grippers

Howard¹,

O'Connor²,

Letchford³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The application of granular jamming in soft robotics is a recent and promising new technology offer exciting possibilities for creating higher performance robotic devices. Granular jamming is achieved via the application of a vacuum pressure inside a membrane containing particulate matter, and is particularly interesting from a design perspective, as a myriad of design parameters can potentially be exploited to induce a diverse variety of useful behaviours. To date, the effect of variables such as grain shape and size, as well as membrane material, have been studied as a means of inducing bespoke gripping performance, however the other main contributing factor, membrane morphology, has not been studied due to its particular complexities in both accurate modelling and fabrication. This research presents the first study that optimises membrane morphology for granular jamming grippers, combining multi-material 3D printing and an evolutionary algorithm to search through a varied morphology design space in materio. Entire generations are printed in a single run and gripper retention force is tested and used as a fitness measure. Our approach is relatively scalable, circumvents the need for modelling, and guarantees the real-world performance of the grippers considered. Results show that membrane morphology is a key determinant of gripper performance. Common high performance designs are seen to optimise all three of the main identified mechanisms by which granular grippers generate grip force, are significantly different from a standard gripper morphology, and generalise well across a range of test objects.

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Section: B Jamming Gripper Design Explorationmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: A Granular Jamming In Soft Roboticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Getting a Grip: in Materio Evolution of Membrane Morphology for Soft Robotic Jamming Grippers

Howard¹,

O'Connor²,

Letchford³

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Envelope grippers based on granular jamming have also demonstrated remarkable promise. [39,134] In this approach, a cohesive mass of granular material replaces individual fingers and smoothly conforms to the shape of target object when pressed onto it. The granular material contracts and hardens quickly upon application of a vacuum, pinching and holding the object without necessitating sensory feedback.…”

Section: Computationally Designing and Digitally Fabricatingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intelligent Soft Robotic Grippers for Agricultural and Food Product Handling: A Brief Review with a Focus on Design and Control

Liu,

Hou,

et al. 2023

Advanced Intelligent Systems

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Advances in material sciences, control algorithms, and manufacturing techniques have facilitated rapid progress in soft grippers, propelling their adoption in various fields. In this review article, a comprehensive overview of the design and control aspects of intelligent soft robotic grippers tailored specifically for agricultural product handling is provided. Soft grippers have emerged as a promising solution for handling delicate and fragile objects. In this article, the recent progress in various gripper design, including fluidic and mechanical grippers, is elucidated and the role of advanced control approaches in enabling intelligent functions, such as object classification and grasping condition evaluation, is explored. Moreover, the challenges and opportunities pertaining to implementation of soft grippers in the agricultural industry are thoroughly discussed. While most demonstrations of soft grippers and their control strategies remain at the experimental stage, in this article, it is aimed to provide insights into the potential applications of soft grippers in agricultural product handling, thereby inspiring future research in this field.

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“…Materials have been explored as a means to tune jamming performance, with both shape and size of grains playing a major role [19], as well as multi-material membranes to induce programmed deformations [11]. Evolutionary algorithms [20] were used to generate bespoke grains for soft jamming grippers, as well as to explore the possible configuration space of granular morphologies in order to optimise properties for bespoke granular design [21], [22].…”

Section: B Granular Jamming In Soft Robotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vibration Improves Performance in Granular Jamming Grippers

Mishra¹,

Philips²,

Delaney³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Granular jamming is a popular soft robotics technology that has seen recent widespread applications including industrial gripping, surgical robotics and haptics. However, to date the field has not fully exploited the fundamental science of the jamming phase transition, which has been rigorously studied in the field of statistical and condensed matter physics. This work introduces vibration as a means to improve the properties of granular jamming grippers through vibratory fluidisation and the exploitation of resonant modes within the granular material. We show that vibration in soft jamming grippers can improve holding strength, reduce the downwards force needed for the gripping action, and lead to a simplified setup where the second air pump, generally used for unjamming, could be removed. In a series of studies, we show that frequency and amplitude of the waveforms are key determinants to performance, and that jamming performance is also dependent on temporal properties of the induced waveform. We hope to encourage further study in transitioning fundamental jamming mechanisms into a soft robotics context to improve performance and increase diversity of applications for granular jamming grippers.

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Shape, Size, and Fabrication Effects in 3D Printed Granular Jamming Grippers

Cited by 24 publications

References 31 publications

Getting a Grip: in Materio Evolution of Membrane Morphology for Soft Robotic Jamming Grippers

Getting a Grip: in Materio Evolution of Membrane Morphology for Soft Robotic Jamming Grippers

Intelligent Soft Robotic Grippers for Agricultural and Food Product Handling: A Brief Review with a Focus on Design and Control

Vibration Improves Performance in Granular Jamming Grippers

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