Smart Autonomous Wireless Gripper for Human-Robot Collaborative Operation

A novel gripper was designed and developed for human-robot collaborative operation in healthcare settings. This gripper takes in voice commands for a specific instrument and starts searching using an embedded camera. Machine learning algorithms are used to locate the correct instrument in the co-ordinate frame of an instrument tray indicated by ArUco markers. The coordinates are then sent to the collaborative robot arm, which then moves close to the instrument based on the coordinates sent and is further guided by distance measurement sensors in precise instrument pickup and delivery to the user. The gripper’s jaws are designed to pick up a wide range of instruments and optionally carry a magnet to enable robust operation.