A Tendon-Driven, Preloaded, Pneumatically Actuated, Soft Robotic Gripper with a Telescopic Palm

In this paper, we present a highly adaptive, 3-fingered, soft robotic gripper with a reasonably low weight (657 g) that is capable of grasping various everyday life objects. The employed soft, pneumatically actuated robotic fingers are able to grasp objects of different shapes without damaging them, and the extendable, soft, telescopic palm is able to absorb the high impact forces of the grasped objects, protecting the on-board sensor and providing adaptation to the object shape. The gripper is tendon-driven and it employs a quick-release mechanism that allows grasping of objects at high speeds. The deformability of the soft robotic fingers and the telescopic palm is evaluated by tracking their motions with an appropriate motion capture system. The proposed gripper facilitates the execution of smooth pre-contact motions. The high working volume of each finger allows for grasping of objects with a variety of shapes and sizes. The behaviour of the gripper and its performance are experimentally validated with grasping experiments that involve a plethora of everyday life objects.