Robust capture of unknown objects with a highly under-actuated gripper

Capturing large objects of unknown shape and orientation remains a challenge for most robotic grippers. This problem is especially important for potential satellite servicing missions in space where targets can be large, delicate, and in uncontrolled orbits. Highly under-actuated grippers that can conform to large arbitrarily-shaped objects show promise for this application. However, prior work shows two primary limitations to these highly under-actuated grippers: the grip force of each link tends to decrease as the number of links increases, and the stability of an under-actuated linkage depends on the grasp configuration. In this project we developed a highly under-actuated gripper that addresses these issues. Our approach uses a gecko-inspired adhesive to provide an adhesion-controlled friction that helps stabilize the gripper and improves grasp performance without the need of large normal forces. The under-actuated linkages conform around arbitrary shapes, maintaining performance across disparate target geometries. With these high-friction interfaces, we show highly under-actuated linkages successfully grasp in many configurations without strict stability. The gripper is capable of holding over 30 N and consists of two tendon driven linkages that are each 65 cm long. This is the video submission for the paper: Robust capture of unknown objects with a highly under-actuated gripper by Paul Glick, Nikko Van Crey, Michael T. Tolley, and Donald Ruffatto III From the Bioinspired Robotics and Design Lab. University of California, San Diego. Published in the IEEE International Conference Robotics and Automation (ICRA) https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/... For details, please see our website: bioinspired.eng.ucsd.edu Further research from our collaborators can be found at https://www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/ind... and https://neurobionics.engin.umich.edu/