Abstract:  Aiming at the problems of low rigidity and low fingertip force in the field of fruit and vegetable picking in the current soft end effector, based on the multicavity soft end effector, a method is proposed to increase the clamping force by adding restrictive materials to the top and both sides of the cavity of the generating layer. A mathematical model was established to analyze the relationship between the end position of the actuator and the input air pressure; the Abaqus software was used to simulate and analyze the change law of the actuators bending angle and support reaction force; and the comparison experiment was carried out to grasp and verify. The finite element simulation and test results show that the increase of the restrictive material of the occurrence layer can not only reduce the balloon effect very well, but also can bear higher working pressure without affecting the bending performance of the actuator; the bending angle and pressure are one timing, the supporting force of the enhanced actuator is significantly greater than that of the traditional soft actuator. The maximum gripping weight of the enhanced soft gripper is about 414 g, the maximum gripping weight of the traditional soft gripper is about 108 g, and the gripping weight is about 4 times the traditional gripper.

Key words:  software endeffector, fruit and vegetable picking, stiffness enhancement, Abaqus simulation

摘要： 针对目前软体末端执行器在果蔬采摘领域存在刚度低、指尖力小等问题,在多腔体型软体末端执行器的基础上,提出一种通过对发生层的腔体顶部及两侧增加限制性材料以增大夹持力的方法。建立数学模型分析执行器末端位置与输入气压之间的关系;采用Abaqus软件仿真分析执行器弯曲角度、支反力的变化规律;通过对比试验进行抓取验证。有限元仿真与试验结果表明:发生层限制性材料的增加在不影响执行器弯曲性能的前提下,不仅能很好地减小气球效应,而且能够承载更高的工作压强;弯曲角度和压强一定时,增强型执行器的支反力明显大于传统软体执行器,增强型软体抓手最大抓取重量约为414 g,传统型软体抓手最大抓取重量约为108 g,抓取重量约为传统抓手的4倍。

关键词: 软体末端执行器, 果蔬采摘, 刚度增强, Abaqus仿真