Parallel Jaw Gripper

Abstract

Current robot hands with parallel jaw are limited in their capabilities for full spatial manipulation due to the lack of manipulation between their fingers. This presents a unique challenge in achieving precise control and adaptability for objects of diverse geometries. To this end, I am currently developing an innovative design that integrates active surfaces, compliant fin-rays, and a remote center of compliance (RCC) beam system, to enable versatile manipulation without compromising stability in parallel jaw hands. Having already finished the design implementation, I’m currently developing a robust force-control manipulation algorithm utilizing force primitives to parameterize the gripper’s capabilities. Further information and an accompanying paper for this work will be provided soon, as I plan to submit this work to the 2024 Winter IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RAL) journal.

Personal Contribution

Developed the mechanical design of the Parallel Jaw Gripper and am currently developing force-control manipulation algorithms using force primitives to parameterize and test the hand’s manipulation capabilities for objects of variable geometry. Code base for the test environment came from the Yale OpenHand Project and was further modified to accommodate the Parallel Jaw Gripper components.