Variable Stiffness Soft Robotic Fingers using Snap-Fit Kinematic Reconfiguration
A new design of soft fingers with embedded snap-fit is shown in this video. The snap-fit is used to switch from a low- to a high-stiffness configuration and vice-versa. These purely mechanical fingers can be attached to any standard gripper and do not need any electronics or actuators outside from their gripper. The switch between stiffness modes requires no supplementary actuation and can be controlled by a motion of the finger using a fixed/mobile jig or the fingers themselves if dual-arm manipulation is available.
Reference:
J. Bastien and L. Birglen, "Variable Stiffness Soft Robotic Fingers Using Snap-Fit Kinematic Reconfiguration," in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, doi: 10.1109/TRO.2023.3303850.
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