3D printed soft gripper with adjustable stiffness

• Main Author: Chen, Ken Yen
• Other Authors: Yeong Wai Yee
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/158744
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Grippers have existed for a long time and have contributed to the development of automation. Soft grippers were developed to grip objects that are delicate and have complex geometry that traditional grippers were not able to. In recent years, 3D printing has played an important role in speeding up prototyping processes with the same or even better detail and complexity. This includes being used for prototyping soft grippers as well. There are many existing soft grippers in the market but most are unable to perform in high-speed conditions as compared to traditional grippers due to the low stiffness of the material to produce soft grippers. This Final Year Project report proposes a viable design for a soft gripper with pneumatic actuated fingers that have adjustable stiffness. Material characterizations were done on TPU and TPC and data was collected. Simulations using ANSYS Workbench were carried out using those data and the optimal design of the pneumatic finger was determined. Pneumatic fingers are then printed using FDM 3D printing. Jamming layers are also printed with PLA using FDM 3D printing. A jamming layer is also printed using PLA to be inserted in a vacuum chamber attached to the pneumatic finger forming a layer with adjustable stiffness.