Search

The autonomous manipulation of objects by robotic grippers has made significant strides in enhancing both human daily life and various industries. Within a brief span, a multitude of research endeavours and gripper designs have emerged, drawing inspiration primarily from biological mechanisms. It is within this context that our study takes centre stage, with the aim of conducting a meticulous review of bioinspired grippers. This exploration involved a nuanced classification framework encompassing a range of parameters, including operating principles, material compositions, actuation methods, design intricacies, fabrication techniques, and the multifaceted applications into which these grippers seamlessly integrate. Our comprehensive investigation unveiled gripper designs that brim with a depth of intricacy, rendering them indispensable across a spectrum of real-world scenarios. These bioinspired grippers with a predominant emphasis on animal-inspired solutions have become pivotal tools that not only mirror nature's genius but also significantly enrich various domains through their versatility.

Nowadays, achieving the stable grasping of objects in robotics requires an increased emphasis on soft interactions. This research introduces a novel gripper design to achieve a more universal object grasping. The key feature of this gripper design was a hybrid mechanism that leveraged the soft structure provided by multiple granular pouches attached to the finger skeletons. To evaluate the performance of the gripper, a series of experiments were conducted using fifteen distinct types of objects, including cylinders, U-shaped brackets, M3 bolts, tape, pyramids, big pyramids, oranges, cakes, coffee sachets, spheres, drink sachets, shelves, pulley gears, aluminium profiles, and flat brackets. Our experimental results demonstrated that our gripper design achieved high success rates in gripping objects weighing less than 210 g. One notable advantage of the granular-tendon gripper was its ability to generate soft interactions during the grasping process while having a skeleton support to provide strength. This characteristic enabled the gripper to adapt effectively to various objects, regardless of their shape and material properties. Consequently, this work presented a promising solution for manipulating a wide range of objects with both stability and soft interaction capabilities, regardless of their individual characteristics.