A Soft Robotic Gripper with Active Palm for In-Hand Object Reorientation

The human hand has an inherent ability to manipulate and re-orientate objects without external assistance. As a consequence, we are able to operate tools and perform an array of actions using just one hand, without having to continuously re-grasp objects. Emulating this functionality in robotic end-effectors remains a key area of study with efforts being made to create advanced control systems that could be used to operate complex manipulators. In this paper, a three fingered soft gripper with an active rotary palm is presented as a simpler, alternative method of performing in-hand rotations. The gripper, complete with its pneumatic suction cup to prevent object slippage, was tested and found to be able to effectively grasp and rotate a variety of objects both quickly and precisely.