Modeling, design, prototyping and performance evaluation of a sensor-based robotic gripper system for automated limp material handling

Abstract

The use of robotic technology in soft goods industries for automated manipulation of limp materials is a novel and challenging application. There are several operations in soft-goods manufacturing environments that are being performed by human operators due to the lack of technology to automate the process of limp material handling. This is essentially due to the limp and deformable nature of materials used in soft goods industries. Lack of a true engineering approach during the design of systems has for long been one of the major reasons for the lack of success in automating the process of limp material handling. This research pursues a systems engineering approach to the design, analysis, development and evaluation of the sensor-based robotic gripper system. A sensor-based robotic gripper system has been designed and developed. The developed system is found to be capable of reliable, rapid and distortion-free automated manipulation of limp and easily deformable materials. It is found that the developed system is capable of performing in structured and semi-structured environments while exceeding the system requirements, set for industrial acceptance.