Magnetically Actuated Compliant Soft Robotic Gripper for Grasping Delicate Food Items

Abstract

This study focuses on the development and assessment of an innovative soft robotic gripper, activated by an electromagnet (specifically, a solenoid), designed for the delicate handling of unpackaged vegetables and fruits within the food industry. The study introduces a soft gripper, configured as two flexible opposing fingers capable of gently gripping fragile food products. The primary objectives of this design include achieving compactness, lightness, simplicity, and a reduction in overall system complexity. The flexible two-finger appendages were fabricated through 3D printing using a fused filament fabrication (FFF) method with soft elastic thermoplastic polyurethane filament material. To evaluate the gripper's performance across diverse rigid object characteristics, including different sizes, surface asperities, and shapes, holding forces were empirically measured using an Instron testing machine. The study concludes by demonstrating the practical feasibility of the soft electromagnetic gripper, showcasing its ability to successfully grasp a variety of delicate natural food items with differing sizes, shapes, and weights.