System and method for vision-based control of a reconfigurable soft robotic gripper

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a vision based control of a reconfigurable soft robotic gripper. Conventional methods lack an intelligent control method which automatically adapts the configuration of the gripper based on the target object. The present disclosure includes a robotic gripper with a rigid palm and three soft fingers attached to the palm. Each finger is separately actuated using three separate motors. Out of the three fingers, one is fixed, and other two can move relative to the base, the motion of the movable fingers is actuated by motor(s). Each finger has multiple sensors to detect the magnitude of bending. A camera is attached to the base of the gripper, facing the object to be grasped. The camera image and the sensors measurements are given to a control unit and the control unit in turn gives the control signal to the actuator motors to suit the object to be grasped.