Proposal for Thin Shell Gripper Fabricated by Demolding-Free Casting for Handling and Packing Multiple Cucumbers Simultaneously
Hiroki Aoyama, Zhongkui Wang, Shinichi Hirai · The Proceedings of JSME annual Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics (Robomec) · 2022
Soft grippers, including the conventional parallel shell gripper, are fabricated using traditional rubber casting process. In this research, we propose a demolding-free casting approach that does not require demolding silicon rubber from the mold. The rigid shell component serves as not only the mold for casting but also a part of the shell gripper. By using the proposed fabrication approach, shell gripper with thin structure can be realized, which is very essential for grasping objects in a clustered scenario. Experiments on grasping and packing multiple cucumbers simultaneously were conducted to evaluate the performance of the fabricated shell gripper.