Design and Analysis of 3D Printed Soft Grippers
摘要
The limitations of rigid grippers in handling objects with varying geometries and the risk of damaging delicate components motivate the development of flexible grippers. This work aims to design and evaluate hermetic and adaptive soft grippers manufactured using TPU through additive manufacturing. The methodology included CAD modeling, finite element simulations with hyperelastic behavior using the Mooney-Rivlin model, and experimental validation under pneumatic actuation. For hermetic fingers, the gripping force increased with air pressure and decreased with the number of segments, while deformation angles were consistently lower in experiments due to simulation simplifications. For adaptive fingers, the increase in internal reinforcements raised the deflection coefficient, confirming the expected behavior. Simulations and practical tests showed similar deformation patterns. The results validate the effectiveness of additive manufacturing for fabricating soft grippers with tailored mechanical responses. Future work includes integrating load cells for force measurement and designing complete gripper systems for manipulating deformable objects.