Flying Hydraulically Amplified Electrostatic Gripper System for Aerial Object Manipulation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a bio-inspired, hydraulically amplified electrostatic gripper mounted on a quadcopter, demonstrating soft, safe, and energy-efficient aerial object manipulation for the first time.

Contribution

It presents a novel hybrid electrostatic actuator design inspired by biological systems, enabling soft manipulation in air with improved force output and robustness.

Findings

First demonstration of soft electrostatic manipulation in air

Hybrid actuator design achieves higher force under moderate deflections

Potential for untethered aerial robotic manipulation

Abstract

Rapid and versatile object manipulation in air is an open challenge. An energy-efficient and adaptive soft gripper combined with an agile aerial vehicle could revolutionize aerial robotic manipulation in areas such as warehousing. This paper presents a bio-inspired gripper powered by hydraulically amplified electrostatic actuators mounted to a quadcopter that can interact safely and naturally with its environment. Our gripping concept is motivated by an eagle's foot. Our custom multi-actuator concept is inspired by a scorpion tail design (consisting of a base electrode with pouches stacked adjacently) and spider-inspired joints (classic pouch motors with a flexible hinge layer). A hybrid of these two designs realizes a higher force output under moderate deflections of up to 25{\deg} compared to single-hinge concepts. In addition, sandwiching the hinge layer improves the robustness of the gripper. For the first time, we show that soft manipulation in air is possible using electrostatic actuation. This study demonstrates the potential of untethered hydraulically amplified actuators in aerial robotic manipulation. Our proof of concept opens up the use of hydraulic electrostatic actuators in mobile aerial systems.