The Construction of a Soft Gripper Based on Magnetorheological Elastomer with Permanent Magnet

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel soft robotic gripper using magnetorheological elastomer and permanent magnets, enabling self-closing and delicate object handling, validated through experimental lifting tests.

Contribution

It proposes a new soft gripper design leveraging magnetorheological elastomer and permanent magnets, demonstrating its effectiveness in handling various objects.

Findings

The soft gripper can lift different objects effectively.

The design utilizes the rolling effect of magnetorheological elastomer.

Experimental validation confirms the gripper's functionality.

Abstract

Recently, magnetorheological elastomers have become an interesting smart material with many new designs for robotics. A variety of applications have been built with magnetorheological elastomers, such as vibration absorbers, actuators, or grippers, showing that this material is promising for soft robotics. In this work, the novel concept of a gripper is proposed, exploring the features of a magnetorheological elastomer and permanent magnet. The gripper uses the energy of a permanent magnet to provide a self-closing gripping mechanism. The usage of flexible material enables one to hold delicate objects of various shapes. This paper presents the rolling effect of magnetorheological elastomer and permanent magnet, the design process, and the features of the soft gripper. The effectiveness of the soft gripper was validated in a series of experiments that involved lifting different objects.