In today’s world, there is increasing demand for universal grippers that offer a high level of adaptability in handling objects of various shapes, sizes, and materials. Currently, only small-scale pneumatic soft grippers are widely available on the market, primarily suited to industrial applications involving the manipulation of lightweight and small objects. In this thesis, we focused on developing a large-scale soft gripper designed to handle heavier loads. The gripper geometry was carefully designed to address shortcomings identified in previous research on similar systems. Three different tooling solutions for manufacturing the grippers were developed and evaluated, resulting in the selection of a design that enabled the production of a fully functional gripper. A novel manufacturing process was introduced, based on a two-part system in which the core is produced using rotational moulding, while the external layer is formed through rubber vulcanisation. The fabricated grippers were subsequently tested and measured. At a maximum operating pressure of 3.5 bar, the soft gripper achieved a maximum gripping force of 119 N. The gripper was also tested using a hydraulic lifting device, allowing the manipulation of loads with varying masses. The heaviest successfully lifted load had a mass of 30 kg. The results indicate that the most influential factors in achieving high gripping forces are the operating pressure, the spacing between the chambers, and the gripping angle.
|
