Chopstick-type gripper mechanism for meal-assistance robot capable of adapting to size and elasticity of foods

• This paper proposed a chopstick-type gripper for a meal-assistance robot, which is capable of adapting its shape and the contact force with the target food according to the size and the elasticity of the food. Solely using position control of the driving motor for the mechanism, this feature was enabled without relying on force sensors. The gripper was designed based on the concept of under-actuation and a planar mechanism with 2 DOF composed of a combination of 2 four-bar mechanisms having a torsion spring in a passive joint. To clarify the gripping motion and relationship among the contact force, food’s size and elasticity, a simulation based on kineto-elasto-static analysis was performed. Finally, to verify the theoretical analysis, a simple prototype was manufactured and an experiment to measure the contact force has been conducted.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Robotteknik och automation (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Robotics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Chopstick-type gripper

Kineto-elasto-static analysis

Meal-assistance robot

Mechanism design

Under-actuated mechanism

Elasticity

Grippers

Machine design

Position control

Static analysis

Contact forces

Four-bar mechanisms

Meal-assistance robots

Planar mechanism

Torsion Springs

Under-actuation

Mechanisms

Elektroteknik

Electrical Engineering

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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