skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Towards Very Low-Cost Iterative Prototyping for Fully Printable Dexterous Soft Robotic Hands
The design and fabrication of soft robot hands is still a time-consuming and difficult process. Advances in rapid prototyping have significantly accelerated the fabrication process while introducing new complexities into the design process. In this work, we present an approach that utilizes novel low-cost fabrication techniques in conjunction with design tools to help soft hand designers systematically take advantage of multi-material 3D printing to create dexterous soft robotic hands. While very low-cost and lightweight, we show that generated designs are highly durable, surprisingly strong, and capable of dexterous grasping.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1925130
PAR ID:
10382578
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)
Page Range / eLocation ID:
490 to 497
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; (, Robotics science and systems)
    null (Ed.)
    Traditional parallel-jaw grippers are insufficient for delicate object manipulation due to their stiffness and lack of dexterity. Other dexterous robotic hands often have bulky fingers, rely on complex time-varying cable drives, or are prohibitively expensive. In this paper, we introduce a novel low-cost compliant gripper with two centimeter-scaled 3-DOF delta robots using off-the-shelf linear actuators and 3D-printed soft materials. To model the kinematics of delta robots with soft compliant links, which diverge from typical rigid links, we train neural networks using a perception system. Furthermore, we analyze the delta robot’s force profile by varying the starting position in its workspace and measuring the resulting force from a push action. Finally, we demonstrate the compliance and dexterity of our gripper through six dexterous manipulation tasks involving small and delicate objects. Thus, we present the groundwork for creating modular multi-fingered hands that can execute precise and low-inertia manipulations. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, International Journal of Humanoid Robotics)
    null (Ed.)
    There has been great progress in soft robot design, manufacture, and control in recent years, and soft robots are a tool of choice for safe and robust handling of objects in conditions of uncertainty. Still, dexterous in-hand manipulation using soft robots remains a challenge. This paper introduces foam robot hands actuated by tendons sewn through a fabric glove. The flexibility of tendon actuation allows for high competence in utilizing deformation for robust in-hand manipulation. We discuss manufacturing, control, and design optimization for foam robots and demonstrate robust grasping and in-hand manipulation on a variety of different physical hand prototypes. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; (, IEEE)
    Pneumatic soft robots are typically fabricated by molding, a manual fabrication process that requires skilled labor. Additive manufacturing has the potential to break this limitation and speed up the fabrication process but struggles with consistently producing high-quality prints. We propose a low-cost approach to improve the print quality of desktop fused deposition modeling by adding a webcam to the printer to monitor the printing process and detect and correct defects such as holes or gaps. We demonstrate that our approach improves the air-tightness of printed pneumatic actuators while reducing the need for fine-tuning printing parameters. Our approach presents a new option for robustly fabricating airtight, soft robotic actuators. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; (, Biomedical Engineering Education)
    Abstract Experiential learning in biomedical engineering curricula is a critical component to developing graduates who are equipped to contribute to technical design tasks in their careers. This paper presents the development and implementation of an undergraduate and graduate-level soft material robotics design course focused on applications in medical device design. The elective course, offered in a bioengineering department, includes modules on technical topics and hands-on projects relevant to readings, all situated within a human-centered design course. After learning and using first principles governing soft robot design and exploring literature in soft robotics, students propose a new advance in the field in a hands-on design and prototype project. The course described here aims to create a structure to engage students in fabrication and the design approaches taken by practitioners in a specific field, applied here in soft robotics, but applicable to other areas of biomedical engineering. This teaching tips article details the pedagogical tools used to facilitate design and collaboration within the course. Additionally, we aim to highlight ways in which the course creates (1) opportunities to engage undergraduates in design in preparation for capstone courses, (2) outward facing opportunities to connect with practitioners in the field, and (3) the ability to adapt this hands-on experience within a typical lecture structure as well as a hybrid online and in-person offering, thus expanding its utility in bioengineering departments. We reflect on course elements that can inform future design-based course offerings in soft robotics and other design-based multidisciplinary fields in bioengineering. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; (, IEEERAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots)
    null (Ed.)
    Achieving dexterous in-hand manipulation with robot hands is an extremely challenging problem, in part due to current limitations in hardware design. One notable bottleneck hampering the development of improved hardware for dexterous manipulation is the lack of a standardized benchmark for evaluating in-hand dexterity. In order to address this issue, we establish a new benchmark for evaluating in- hand dexterity, specifically for humanoid type robot hands: the Elliott and Connolly Benchmark. This benchmark is based on a classification of human manipulations established by Elliott and Connolly, and consists of 13 distinct in-hand manipulation patterns. We define qualitative and quantitative metrics for evaluation of the benchmark, and provide a detailed testing protocol. Additionally, we introduce a dexterous robot hand - the CMU Foam Hand III - which is evaluated using the benchmark, successfully completing 10 of the 13 manipulation patterns and outperforming human hand baseline results for several of the patterns. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email