An Ultra-Light, Ultra-Fast, Passive Closing Aerial Gripping System Capable of Grasping, Perching, and Aerial Manipulation

Aerial manipulation has attracted an increased interest in both academic and industrial circles due to the rapid advancement of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies. By combining the agility of aerial platforms with the capabilities of robotic manipulators, aerial manipulation presents a great potential for delivering a plethora of practical applications. In this paper, we propose an ultra-light, ultra-fast, passive closing robot gripper design that can execute a variety of dynamic grasping, perching, and aerial manipulation tasks. In particular, the gripper can capture flying objects and can execute complex industrial functions, such as manipulating valves using both perching and aerial manipulation. An ultrasonic sensor is employed to detect the distance between the incoming flying objects and the palm of the robot gripper, which in turn activates the quick closing mechanism. Compared with our previous work focusing on this problem [1], the proposed design uses only one actuator to control the opening and closing of three fingers with multiple degrees of freedom, and it implements a lighter finger quick-release mechanism. In the grasping experiment, the gripper achieves a grasping time of 0.035 s and a maximum grasping force of 4.4 N, while the gripper itself weighs 322 g. The proposed hand can be mounted on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platform as an end-effector so as to perform demanding tasks.