Development and Characterization of an Origami-Based Vacuum-Driven Bending Actuator for Soft Gripping

Soft robotics is a novel disruptor that has at-tracted the interest of robotic developers, allowing them to leverage the use of soft materials and compliant mechanisms to interact better with soft objects. This paper presents the development and characterization of a vacuum-driven soft-bending actuator that utilizes an origami skeletal structure. The proposed actuator comprises a skeleton from an origami folded thin polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheet and a pouch made from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) coated polyester fabric. The developed actuator is experimentally evaluated to characterize its bending angle, blocked force, and holding force performance. The actuator has a maximum bending angle of 84°, a maximum lifting force of 7 N, and a maximum tip blocking force of 1.8 N at 40 kPa (abs). The developed soft bending actuator is integrated into a three-finger gripper to evaluate its gripping performance. The developed gripper successfully handled several irregularly shaped daily objects and soft food items. The gripper could withstand a pulling force of up to 18.35 N.