Underactuated Gecko Adhesive Gripper for Simple and Versatile Grasp

Abstract

Gecko-inspired adhesives have several desirable characteristics in robotic grasping: controllable activation and deactivation of adhesion, ability to grasp and release with minimal disturbance, and grasping without the need of form closure. Previously proposed grippers with this technology either require a complex activation mechanism or multiple activation steps. In this paper, we present an underactuated gecko-inspired adhesive gripper that can grasp a wide range of curved surfaces using a single actuator through a simple tendon-driven mechanism that attaches and adheres in one step. We derive a theoretical model of the adhesive contact area and resulting gripper grasp force, which is verified experimentally. The actual performance of the proposed mechanism is demonstrated by successfully grasping several surfaces with different curvature diameters.