Piezoelectric bimorphs have been used as a micro-gripper in many applications, but the system might be complex and the response performance might not have been fully characterized. In this study the dynamic characteristics of bending piezoelectric bimorphs actuators were theoretically and experimentally investigated for micro-gripping applications in terms of deflection along the length, transi...

We investigate robotic assistants for dressing that can anticipate the motion of the person who is being helped. To this end, we use reinforcement learning to create models of human behavior during assistance with dressing. To explore this kind of interaction, we assume that the robot presents an open sleeve of a hospital gown to a person, and that the person moves their arm into the sleeve. Th...

In this paper, three-dimensional (3D) automated micromanipulation at the scale of several micrometers using a nanotip gripper with multi-feedback is presented. The gripper is constructed from protrudent tips of two individually actuated atomic force microscope cantilevers; each cantilever is equipped with an optical lever. A manipulation protocol allows these two cantilevers to form a gripper t...

Received Jun 24, 2013 Revised Dec 27, 2013 Accepted Jan 20, 2014 This paper focuses on the development of a reliable, low cost, average size, light weight, simple, rugged, and compact design five fingers real time smart glove and a measurement hand gripper that emulate the human hand functions that can be used as a prototype model for hand rehabilitation systems for patients suffering from para...

As opposed to the usual approach of programming robot arms by giving a complete description of the trajectory (e.g. direct programming) this work is based on the idea of Programming by Demonstration. Only few intermediate positions, which approximate the trajectory, are given and recorded by a stereo-camera-system. The idea is to extract the path of the manipulator gripper from the images by ge...

This paper examines joint coupling in underactuated robotic grippers for unstructured environments where object properties and location may not be well known. A simplified grasper consisting of a pair of two-link planar fingers with compliant revolute joints was simulated as it was actuated after contact with a target object. The joint coupling configuration of the gripper was varied in order t...

The authors study the van der Waals force FvdW, between the gripper jaw and an object – cubical, spherical and conical in shape, situated at a distance L of closest approach from it. The generic and most general case is considered, when the materials of the working jaw of the gripper and the particle are made of different materials strongly preferring the liquid phase of the fluid being at temp...

We introduce a soft actuator for grippers using DEA capable of bending actuation. The actuator is also able to generate the electro-adhesion by the fringe field formed at the edges of the electrodes. The adhesion improves the holding force and ensures the conformation of the structure to the object. After the characterization of the actuator, we develop a 2finger soft gripper capable of holding...

The mango fruit (Mangifera indica) is a highly appreciated fruit by the consumers. One of the most significant quality aspects of mango is its firmness as it represents ripeness. Destructive tests are still commonly used as an instrumental reference for texture measurements. However, during the last two decades there has been an increasing interest in nondestructive fruit quality inspection. Th...