Soft Universal Robotic Grippers
In robotics, end-effectors or grippers are usually mounted on the ends of arm-shaped robots, parallel robots, and many other types of robots. In many cases, the grippers enable robots to pick and place objects, like hand fingers that enable our arms to grasp objects and place them in the desired location. There are two main types of grippers. The first group is grippers that are made of metal bodies and are driven by a variety of motors and cables. These types of grippers have a heavy and rigid body and are mostly used in heavy industries. The big disadvantage of this type of grippers is that in interaction with soft and delicate objects, they easily damage them.
The second group is soft and light grippers. One of the great advantages of this type of grippers over hard and heavy grippers is that they are compliant and easily adapt to the living and soft environment around them. By taking advantage of soft grippers, you will be able to pick soft objects such as cream cakes, a flower, a variety of fruits, and even a coin from a table; and move them to your desired location.
In Soft-Maker, relying on knowledge, expertise, and experience; We could design and fabricate three different types of soft grippers. In addition, our team can design, customize, fabricate, and ultimately deliver these types of grippers based on your needs.
Soft Pneumatic Linear-Planar/Bending/Twisting Actuators
If you are not able to use large and traditional pneumatic actuators owing to limitations such as workspace constraints and weight constraints; soft pneumatic actuators can be a good alternative. For example, in Soft-Maker Company, by designing and manufacturing a unique type of soft and flexible pneumatic linear/planar actuator (without utilizing motors, cables, etc.), we have been able to achieve the secondary length up to 3.5 times bigger than the initial length of the actuator. For instance, our soft linear actuator can change its initial length from ten centimeters to thirty-five centimeters and stand in any size in this range with precise control. As mentioned, by implementing simple to complex control algorithms, we can stop flexible actuators with high accuracy at any desired point in their working area/space. While industrial pneumatic actuators are not able to change the overall length of the body and are not efficient in very limited spaces.
Materials used in Soft Robots
For the fabrication of soft robots, predominantly soft, flexible, and elastic materials are utilized. Different grades of silicones and latex are among the materials that are widely used in the fabrication of soft robots. Special molding methods are used for fabricating the body of the robots of silicone, and to exploit flexible materials in the robot's body, 3D printing machines are utilized. Latex is also a very elastic and flexible material that is also used in the body of soft robots with special moldings.
One of the most important parameters in choosing the type of material is that the chosen material must not harm the objects that interact with it. Another approach in choosing the type of material is to exploit biodegradable materials, as the robot or at least a part of it can degrade in the environment. In Soft-Maker Company, we have succeeded in using plants seeds/grains in the jamming mechanism in these types of robots. The most important advantage of the mentioned mechanism is in enhancing the strength of soft robots, which increases the load-bearing ability in carrying external loads applied in the body of the soft robot.
Control and actuating of Soft Robots
In industrial robots, robot control is usually performed via programming and software. By implementing traditional methods of robot control, after performing the essential calculations by the operator, it is enough to give appropriate commands to components used in the robot such as motors, actuators, valves, etc. The robot will then be able to perform the assigned tasks in its specified workspace.
However, in the design of soft robots, due to their complexity, light, and soft nature; the direct use of engines, bulky and heavy industrial and semi-industrial components/mechanisms/systems, has no scientific and practical explanation. Therefore, the design of control systems on soft robots is applied directly on or into their bodies. The body of soft robots is designed in such a way that the whole robot can be precisely controlled by controlling the movements of their body. This means that the geometric shape of the body of soft robots has the first and last word in their control discussion.
The actuation of soft robots is generally possible by exploiting pneumatic systems, which are actuated by using compressed air or vacuum, or a combination of them.
Controlling the body of soft robots, due to their flexibility, is one of the most challenging fields in making these types of robots. The Soft-Maker team is also struggling to implement the best control solutions by using the best control engineers.
It should be noted that soft robots are not usually designed just to meet a need, but these types of robots are mainly designed and built for multi-purpose applications.