Design and Basic Performance Analysis of a Bionic Finger Soft Actuator with a Dual-Chamber Composite Structure
Pneumatic soft manipulators are one of the current development trends in the field of manipulators. The soft manipulator that has been developed at present still has problems with single function and poor load-bearing capacity. This paper designs a composite soft finger inspired by the human middle...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Actuators |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/14/6/268 |
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| author | Yu Cai Sheng Liu Dazhong Wang Shuai Huang Dong Zhang Mengyao Shi Wenqing Dai Shang Wang |
| author_facet | Yu Cai Sheng Liu Dazhong Wang Shuai Huang Dong Zhang Mengyao Shi Wenqing Dai Shang Wang |
| author_sort | Yu Cai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pneumatic soft manipulators are one of the current development trends in the field of manipulators. The soft manipulator that has been developed at present still has problems with single function and poor load-bearing capacity. This paper designs a composite soft finger inspired by the human middle finger, featuring a dual-chamber pneumatic drive and embedded steel sheet structure. Utilizing the principles of moment equilibrium and virtual work, a theoretical model for the bending behavior of the soft finger is developed, and the correlation between the bending angle and driving air pressure is derived. The determination process of key parameters and their influence on bending deformation are explained in detail through simulation. The bending experiment confirmed the reliability of the theoretical model. The fingertip force test indicates that the composite finger exerts a greater force than the ordinary one, with the extra force equivalent to 42.57% of the composite finger’s own fingertip force. Subsequent tests on the soft robotic hand measured the hooking quality, gripping diameter, and gripping force. The hooking experiment confirmed that composite fingers have a stronger load-bearing capacity than ordinary fingers, with an extra capacity equivalent to 31.25% of the composite finger’s own load-bearing capacity. Finally, the grasping experiment demonstrates that the soft manipulator can grasp objects of varying shapes and weights, indicating its strong adaptability and promising applications. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7cf482aba3694a11b8b6dbcb153d343c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-0825 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Actuators |
| spelling | doaj-art-7cf482aba3694a11b8b6dbcb153d343c2025-08-20T03:30:28ZengMDPI AGActuators2076-08252025-05-0114626810.3390/act14060268Design and Basic Performance Analysis of a Bionic Finger Soft Actuator with a Dual-Chamber Composite StructureYu Cai0Sheng Liu1Dazhong Wang2Shuai Huang3Dong Zhang4Mengyao Shi5Wenqing Dai6Shang Wang7School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, ChinaSchool of Computer Science, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney 2007, AustraliaPneumatic soft manipulators are one of the current development trends in the field of manipulators. The soft manipulator that has been developed at present still has problems with single function and poor load-bearing capacity. This paper designs a composite soft finger inspired by the human middle finger, featuring a dual-chamber pneumatic drive and embedded steel sheet structure. Utilizing the principles of moment equilibrium and virtual work, a theoretical model for the bending behavior of the soft finger is developed, and the correlation between the bending angle and driving air pressure is derived. The determination process of key parameters and their influence on bending deformation are explained in detail through simulation. The bending experiment confirmed the reliability of the theoretical model. The fingertip force test indicates that the composite finger exerts a greater force than the ordinary one, with the extra force equivalent to 42.57% of the composite finger’s own fingertip force. Subsequent tests on the soft robotic hand measured the hooking quality, gripping diameter, and gripping force. The hooking experiment confirmed that composite fingers have a stronger load-bearing capacity than ordinary fingers, with an extra capacity equivalent to 31.25% of the composite finger’s own load-bearing capacity. Finally, the grasping experiment demonstrates that the soft manipulator can grasp objects of varying shapes and weights, indicating its strong adaptability and promising applications.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/14/6/268bionic soft fingerdual-chamber pneumatic actuationfinger force enhancementenhanced adaptability and applications |
| spellingShingle | Yu Cai Sheng Liu Dazhong Wang Shuai Huang Dong Zhang Mengyao Shi Wenqing Dai Shang Wang Design and Basic Performance Analysis of a Bionic Finger Soft Actuator with a Dual-Chamber Composite Structure Actuators bionic soft finger dual-chamber pneumatic actuation finger force enhancement enhanced adaptability and applications |
| title | Design and Basic Performance Analysis of a Bionic Finger Soft Actuator with a Dual-Chamber Composite Structure |
| title_full | Design and Basic Performance Analysis of a Bionic Finger Soft Actuator with a Dual-Chamber Composite Structure |
| title_fullStr | Design and Basic Performance Analysis of a Bionic Finger Soft Actuator with a Dual-Chamber Composite Structure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and Basic Performance Analysis of a Bionic Finger Soft Actuator with a Dual-Chamber Composite Structure |
| title_short | Design and Basic Performance Analysis of a Bionic Finger Soft Actuator with a Dual-Chamber Composite Structure |
| title_sort | design and basic performance analysis of a bionic finger soft actuator with a dual chamber composite structure |
| topic | bionic soft finger dual-chamber pneumatic actuation finger force enhancement enhanced adaptability and applications |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/14/6/268 |
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