Reconfigurable, Adaptive, Lightweight Grasping Mechanisms for Aerial Robotic Platforms
Lydia Hingston, Jonathan Mace, Joao Buzzatto, Minas Liarokapis
Abstract
Over the last decades, the development of aerial robots for monitoring, grasping, and package delivery applications has gained momentum in both research and industry. However, grasping capable platforms are currently limited by the payload that they can carry and their operation time, due to the weight of the grasping mechanisms, their high energy consumption, and battery limitations. In this paper, we propose two reconfigurable, lightweight, robust grasping mechanisms that can be used in aerial robotic vehicles offering them grasping capabilities. The two solutions are: i) an ultra-lightweight, net-based design that utilises twisted string actuation to pull together eight 3D printed cylinders that are connected to a net, conforming around the object and ii) a reconfigurable, slider-based grasping mechanism that works like a supersized parallel jaw gripper, employing 3D-printed pads that slide on two carbon fibre shafts with linear bearings. The second design can also be configured as a shape-shifting, grasping capable device that can act as a flying gripper. The efficiency of the proposed grasping mechanisms has been experimentally validated with a series of experiments focusing on grasping of everyday objects and assessing their force exertion capabilities and durability.