Design of a Rigid-Flexible Coupling Origami Gripper

This paper presents the design a pneumatic rigid-flexible coupling origami gripper. The mechanism of the gripper is designed from the waterbomb origami, and the stiffness of the gripper is increased by attaching steel sheets to the facets of the origami gripper. Then the gripper realizes the adaptivity of soft grippers and high load capacity of rigid grippers. Three pressure sensors are arranged on the gripper as its sensory system. The sensory system gives distinct responses to objects of different shapes, and therefore enables the gripper to recognize grasping objects.