Vibration Vanquished: Enhancing Grasping of Deformable Objects with Jet Gripper Technology

Effective grasping and manipulation of deformable objects remains a challenge for most manufacturing applications. However, advances in gripper technology are moving the automation of this process closer to reality. Despite their potential, our previously developed state-of-the-art gripper and other jet grippers have the disadvantage of vibrating the deformable object during grasping. This results in a reduction of frictional force between the gripper and the deformable object, thereby impairing the ability to effectively perform manipulation. In this paper, we successfully eliminated vibrations during the grasping and manipulation of textile objects by introducing a novel anti-vibration grid that redirects airflow away from the object. Additionally, a comprehensive parametric study led to a significant increase in the gripper’s force characteristics. Future work will focus on advancing dexterous manipulation and integrating the gripper with other actuators for improved performance and efficiency.