Design of a Bioinspired Multi-fingered Soft Pneumatic Gripper with Embedded Suckers

Applications as robotic harvesting or pick and place in the agrifood domain require robotic grippers able to gently manipulate delicate products, while guaranteeing high gripping power and adhesion forces on smooth surfaces. Existing soft grippers are mainly based on pneumatic bending actuators which can guarantee a gentle manipulation, but they suffer from low gripping power and possibility of slip of the manipulated object. This paper describes a novel design concept of soft robotic pneumatic gripper with embedded suckers. The concept consists of four soft fingers, each one comprising an elastomeric structure with two separate air paths, one for pressurizing the finger for generating bending motion, one for vacuum–based adhesion to the object’s surface via suction pads distributed along the surface of the finger. In this work we highlight the concept design of the mechanical system and the pneumatic control unit.