Design of a Soft Gripper Mold for an End Effector in the Automation of Sugarcane Packaging

摘要

Sugarcane is one of the top three most produced agrarian crops in the Philippines. In addition to that, the country belongs to the top 10 countries in the world that is well-known for sugarcane production and reported to be the fifth producer of sugarcane in the Asia Pacific Region as of 2017. In the export and distribution of the crop to both local and foreign consumers, packaging is an important part of the manufacturing process with which its efficiency and speed can be improved by using pick-and-place robots. Additionally, careful grasping must be observed in handling the crops to avoid bruising or damaging and that it must be kept at standard and optimum conditions in its travel to the consumers. Considering the ability of soft robots, the dimensions of sugarcane crops, and end effector attributes suitable for the packaging of sugarcane crops, this study aims to design a soft gripper mold for an end effector to be used in the sugarcane packaging process. The design is a rib-segmented, three-fingered gripper with pneumatic and textile layers. It is 135 mm in length, 45 mm in width, and 10 mm in height. Based on these, the researchers aim to use this design for fabrication.