EleTac: Elephant-Inspired Soft Gripper Boasts Advanced Tactile Sensing

Soft robotic grippers, constructed from flexible materials, are gaining traction in robotics due to their ability to gently grasp and adapt to various shapes, making them ideal for delicate tasks. However, equipping these flexible grippers with sensors for touch feedback – including contact location, force applied, object shape, and gripper position – has been a significant challenge. The flexibility that benefits grasping also complicates the integration of conventional sensors without compromising dexterity or coverage.

A research team led by Professor Van Anh Ho at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), in collaboration with King's College London and Purdue University, has introduced EleTac. This innovative gripper draws inspiration from the tip of an elephant's trunk and combines object grasping with high-resolution tactile sensing and proprioception.

EleTac features pneumatically actuated soft fingers that close around objects. Instead of numerous embedded sensors, it utilizes a single internal fisheye camera. This camera monitors the deformation of the soft gripper material from within during grasping. The team then employed deep learning algorithms trained on these internal camera images to derive various types of tactile information.

Evaluations of EleTac demonstrated its capability to successfully handle a diverse range of objects, including fruit, tofu, fabric, tools, and playing cards, using a straightforward control strategy. More complex tasks were also performed, such as locating and retrieving a pen buried in sand solely through touch, and wiping ink from curved tableware. This latter task required the gripper to adjust its movements based on the sensed pressure of the sponge against different surfaces.

The researchers highlight EleTac's compact, lightweight, and cost-effective design as key practical advantages. They envision it as a plug-and-play end-effector for existing robotic platforms and humanoid robots, particularly for delicate operations. Beyond industrial applications, EleTac marks progress towards the broader adoption of service robots capable of assisting with everyday tasks, supporting individuals, and performing operations difficult for rigid robots, paving the way for safer human-robot collaboration.