Intelligent 3D-Printed Magnetic Micro Soft Robotic Hand with Visual Feedback for Droplet Manipulation

Abstract

Micro robotic hand, which manifests in many forms and is actuated via different mechanisms, is a popular tool for precise manipulation of small-scaled objects. However, conventional micro robots have limited controllability due to their simple structure and lack of sensing elements for status and environment feedback. In this work, a new type of 3D-printed robotic hand with computer vision-based feedback control is presented. The proposed micro soft robotic hands is actuated by a simple magnetic mechanism and shows the ability to manipulate soft matters such as liquid droplets. Identifying objects, especially clear droplets that do not have a strong contrast with the background, presents a great challenge for visual feedback. Therefore, computer vison-based AI technology is implemented to identify and track the micro robotic hand and target objects, which provides a visual feedback for the closed-loop control of desired actions in order to accomplish accurate and precise operations.