A Framework for the Design of Multifunctional Grippers for Legged Robots

Loco-manipulation is an emerging field in the context of legged robotics where the limbs are used for both locomotion and object manipulation. This dual functionality offers opportunities for better hardware utilization and increased flexibility, but introduces additional design complexities due to the trade-off between the two tasks. In this thesis, an open parametric CAD model for manipulators is adapted for prehensile robotic feet, and a physics-based simulation is developed to predict its behaviors. These contributions create a framework that enables rapid assessment and experimental testing of multifunctional grippers. The final contribution of this work is a hardware prototype that can be rapidly reconfigured and optimized, enabling the exploration of a vast design space for the complex task of loco-manipulation.