Silkworm Handling Robot System

Abstract

This paper describes the development and experimental results obtained using a silkworm handling robot. This study was performed to establish a system for the handling of silkworms, and to make use of automated breeding to produce usable materials. Silkworms are soft and amorphous. Therefore, gripping them is extremely difficult, and requires a specialized handling system. The authors devised a gripping strategy, taking into consideration damage of the very supple silkworms, which was used successfully for the handling of silkworms.