Design and development of soft robotic hand by flexible hybrid pneumatic actuator

Soft robots are often fabricated from a single piece of flexible elastomer and have no frictional surfaces or bearings, maintenance and wear can be less. Soft robots in which soft material like elastomer (silicon rubber) instead of rigid material is used for the fabrication of a soft robot's ha

Project Title

Design and development of soft robotic hand by flexible hybrid pneumatic actuator

Project Area of Specialization

Mechanical Engineering

Project Summary

Soft robots are often fabricated from a single piece of flexible elastomer and have no frictional surfaces or bearings, maintenance and wear can be less. Soft robots in which soft material like elastomer (silicon rubber) instead of rigid material is used for the fabrication of a soft robot's hand. One important contribution of soft robots is the ability to allow robots to work safely with people and handle soft/fragile objects. Soft robots are complaint, lightweight, and consume less energy.

There are five traditional types of actuation systems used to control soft robots.

1. Pneumatic actuation.
2. Hydraulic actuation.
3. Vacuum actuation.
4. Servo-electric actuation.
5. Tendon-driven actuation.

Although pneumatic inflation emerged as the most useful method of actuation (and certainly the simplest to implement). Pneumatic and hydraulic both have almost similar circuits to control the soft robot and the team decides to use the pneumatic actuation, although hydraulic consumes less energy as compared to pneumatic because of density difference, there is no harm in using the pneumatic actuation while hydraulic can cause the circuit damage.

Our team is going to develop a hybrid pneumatic hand (soft material but integration of some hard parts).

Project Objectives

1. Design and 3D CAD modeling of soft fingers for a soft robotic hand.
2. To perform FEA analysis of a soft robotic finger for a soft robotic hand.
3. To fabricate and assemble soft fingers for the development of a soft robotic hand.
4. To develop a pneumatic actuation system consisting of the solenoid valve, air pump, and pressure sensor.
5. To implement an electronic circuit for the control of the actuation mechanism for a soft robot.
6. To integrate control and pneumatic actuation system with a soft robotic hand.
7. To test and control the soft robotic hand with the developed pneumatic drive system,

Project Implementation Method

1. Design Parameters.
2. 3D CAD modeling.
3. FEA analysis.
4. 3D printing.
5. Development and assembling.
6. Selection of components as per the decided pressure limit.
7. Verification through software (Proteus/MATLAB).
8. Assembly of components to develop control and pneumatic drive system.
9. Integrate with a soft robotic hand.
10. Experiments and results.

Benefits of the Project

1. Fruit picking.
2. Soft robots can easily handle fragile objects.
3. Consumes less energy compared to hard robots.
4. Lightweight compared to hard robots.
5. Soft robots work on complaint mechanisms means without frictional surfaces joints or bearings, maintenance and wear can be less.
6. Medical applications like Endoscopy and Colonoscopy.
7. Rehabilitation of hands, fingers elbow, shoulder, and wrist.
8. Soft robots are collaborative means that are safer to use in human presence because of the gripper surface material.
9. Simple in design.
10. Complex geometry adoption.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The final hardware (soft robotic hand with control and pneumatic drive system) used the pressure to bend its fingers. Arduino will allow the air pump to blow air through the pneumatic channels. The feedback system of the pressure sensor keeps the pressure at in safe limit. The 3d printed rings constrained the radial inflation of the bladder and the leaf spring will restore the shape after the deflation of fingers. The soft robotic hand will perform the grasping and gripping task.

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Agriculture

Other Industries

Health

Core Technology

Robotics

Other Technologies

Internet of Things (IoT), 3D/4D Printing

Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health and Well-Being for People, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com