Parallel Gripper

Parallel Gripper Performing Ground-Contact Scooping via a Mechanical Compliance Mechanism

This technology is a parallel gripper that performs a scooping motion upon ground contact without complex control by combining a first drive mechanism that induces passive vertical movement at the contact point with a second drive mechanism that induces passive rotation.

Conventional rigid grippers struggle to adapt to various shapes, soft fin-ray grippers lack gripping precision and force, and existing finger mechanisms often fail to interact with the surrounding environment upon ground contact, hindering the gripping process.

This technology proposes a method where a joint section based on a Mecha-Hartz mechanism induces vertical movement and compliance at the contact point, while a link unit and pressure section implement rotation and scooping. It can be applied to logistics picking, disinfection robots, and picking up objects from the floor, allowing for the stable retrieval of thin objects on the ground without the need for additional sensors or control.

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Key Features:

• A pair of chucks equipped with contact sections that interact with the ground while contacting the target object
• A first drive mechanism that passively moves the contact section in a vertical direction when it makes contact with the ground
• A second drive mechanism that passively rotates the contact section when it makes contact with the ground
• A parallel drive module that moves the pair of chucks horizontally to grip the target object

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This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT for the development of task design and control algorithms for intelligent autonomous disinfection robots.