SIMULATION RESEARCH ON THE GRASPING PROCESS OF THE SOFT ROBOT GRIPPER

Abstract

This article presents a method to simulate the dynamics of the grasping process of a soft robotic gripper that is made of silicon. The pneumatically actuated soft fingers are composed of interconnecting hollow chambers. Each soft finger is modeled as a series of line-segment links using a multibody dynamics approach. Numerical simulations using Abaqus/CAE software are used to determine the system's dynamic parameters. The soft gripper’s model is then integrated into the robotic manipulators that are built on MSC Adams software. The interaction between soft grippers and objects is modeled according to the Hertz contact theory. The proposed model allows for the investigation of soft gripper gripping capacity with various types of objects and different moving velocities and accelerations. The simulation shows that the soft gripper can hold a spherical object and a cylindrical object with the same mass of 300 g at a maximum acceleration of 9.9 m/s2 and 3.6 m/s2 respectively. The results of the study are being used to improve the design of the robot's soft gripper.