Origami Actuator with Tunable Limiting Layer for Reconfigurable Soft Robotic Grasping

This paper presents a soft actuator inspired by origami and a tunable strain limiting layer, which is proposed for reconfigurable soft robotic grasping. Main structure of the actuator is based on Miura origami which generates extension under pressurized air while a limiting layer with tunable length enables the actuator with different motion patterns. By driving the limiting layer through a servo motor, the range of motion and trajectory of the actuator can be pre-programed and the gripper’s grasping range will be affected accordingly. This paper discusses the design, fabrication, analysis and experimental verification of the actuator. Then grasping performance of the gripper under objects of different shapes, sizes, and weights is experimentally evaluated. The reconfigurable soft gripper can be applied as an end-effector to accomplish adaptive grasping tasks with various targets.