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arXiv · 2411.17124

DexGrip: Multi-modal Soft Gripper with Dexterous Grasping and In-hand Manipulation Capacity

Xing Wang·Liam Horrigan·Josh Pinskier·Ge Shi·Vinoth Viswanathan·Lois Liow·Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay·Jen Jen Chung·David Howard
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Abstract

The ability of robotic grippers to not only grasp but also re-position and re-orient objects in-hand is crucial for achieving versatile, general-purpose manipulation. While recent advances in soft robotic grasping has greatly improved grasp quality and stability, their manipulation capabilities remain under-explored. This paper presents the DexGrip, a multi-modal soft robotic gripper for in-hand grasping, re-orientation and manipulation. DexGrip features a 3 Degrees of Freedom (DoFs) active suction palm and 3 active (rotating) grasping surfaces, enabling soft, stable, and dexterous grasping and manipulation without ever needing to re-grasp an object. Uniquely, these features enable complete 360 degree rotation in all three principal axes. We experimentally demonstrate these capabilities across a diverse set of objects and tasks. DexGrip successfully grasped, re-positioned, and re-oriented objects with widely varying stiffnesses, sizes, weights, and surface textures; and effectively manipulated objects that presented significant challenges for existing robotic grippers.

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Xing Wang, Liam Horrigan, Josh Pinskier, Ge Shi, Vinoth Viswanathan, Lois Liow, Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay, Jen Jen Chung, David Howard. 2024-11-26. DexGrip: Multi-modal Soft Gripper with Dexterous Grasping and In-hand Manipulation Capacity. https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.17124

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