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

Project Title

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

Project Area of Specialization Mechanical EngineeringProject 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 SystemCore Industry AgricultureOther Industries Health Core Technology RoboticsOther Technologies Internet of Things (IoT), 3D/4D PrintingSustainable 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 LandRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	67130
Microcontroller	Equipment	1	3700	3700
Transistor	Equipment	20	170	3400
Diode	Equipment	20	2	40
DC air pump	Equipment	2	1350	2700
Air solenoid valve	Equipment	10	1200	12000
Voltage regulator	Equipment	2	120	240
switch	Equipment	10	35	350
Resistor	Equipment	30	250	7500
DC power supply adapter	Equipment	1	200	200
Breadboard	Equipment	2	150	300
Jumper wires	Equipment	100	2	200
Rechargeable batteries	Equipment	5	200	1000
Pressure sensor	Equipment	1	3000	3000
Silicon rubber	Equipment	1	5000	5000
3D printing of rings	Equipment	150	20	3000
Leaf spring	Equipment	5	500	2500
End caps	Equipment	10	1000	10000
Miscellaneous	Miscellaneous	1	10000	10000
Mold of finger	Equipment	1	2000	2000