Development of a bio-inspired soft gripper with claws

A soft gripper with claws has been proposed in this paper. This gripper is bio-inspired by inchworm's true leg which can reliably able to adhere on roughness surface including trunks, branches, rocks and concrete. Two rows of sharp hooks are placed on two sides of a soft palm and are connected by two Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) springs. This paper covers the design concept and fabrication process. Experimental results demonstrate the grasp biting force reached 9.15 N, equivalently 0.93 kg which is 15 times its own weight. Some objects with different shapes, dimensions and roughness were also proved to be graspable for the soft gripper. Moreover, the antidumping torque, anti-slipping force and anti-loosing force were measured, warranting the grasping reliability.

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