Optimising Soft Fin Ray Robotic Fingers using Finite Element Analysis to Reduce Object Slippage

Abstract

This research aims to optimise soft fin ray robotic fingers by finding relationships between design parameters and the performance of the fingers using simulation and eventually experimental validation. The design parameters that were chosen to optimise were the rib angle increments of the fingers. This was done by simulating an object being displaced in the x- direction moving into the finger to simulate gripping, then being displaced in the y-direction out of the gripper to simulate slipping. To measure the gripping performance of the fingers, the deformation of the fingertip, as well as force reaction of the finger were recorded. This paper includes initial results from the conducted simulations.