Design and Fabrication of a Soft Robotic Manipulator Driven by Fiber-Reinforced Actuators

Abstract

This paper presents the design and implementation of a four-fingered soft robotic manipulator. Each finger is driven by a fiber-reinforced actuator. Unlike the traditional rigid robotic manipulators, the soft manipulator exhibits the advantage of high adaptability for grasping the objects of various shapes. A prototype is fabricated for experimental testing. Four bending sensors are integrated into the soft manipulator to provide the deformation feedback. A PID feedback control is realized to regulate the grasp force of the manipulator. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed soft robotic manipulator, which can grasp objects with different shapes and sizes.