Development of a Sensorized Hybrid Gripper to Evaluate Grasping Quality

Abstract

Various soft grippers based on the soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) have been studied actively since it offers pliable bending motion, inherent compliance, and a simple morphological structure. For improved functionality or feedback control, embedding sensors to SPAs has also been studied vigorously. However, evaluating grasping quality of the gripper with the embedded sensor has rarely been studied even if the stable grasping is significant in robotic manipulation. Thus, in this study, we developed a sensorized hybrid gripper which embeds a commercial bending sensor and a customized tactile sensor, and the grasping quality based on the largest-minimum wrench (LMW), which evaluate the contact wrenches, was calculated. The grasping quality metrics with two different grips were compared experimentally.