Structural Design and Control Performance Study of Flexible Finger Mechanisms for Robot End Effectors

Most traditional rigid grippers can cause damage to the surface of objects in actual production processes and are susceptible to factors such as different shapes, sizes, materials, and positions of the product. This article studies a flexible finger for flexible grippers, more commonly described as PneuNet, designs the structure of the finger, discusses the processing and manufacturing methods of the flexible finger, and prepares a physical model. The influence of structural parameters such as the thickness of the flexible finger and the angle of the air chamber on the bending performance of the finger was analyzed using the Abaqus simulation tool. An RBF-PID control algorithm was used to stabilize the internal air pressure of the flexible fingers. A flexible finger stabilization experimental platform was built to test the ultimate pressure, ultimate bending angle, and end contact force of the fingers, and the simulation results were experimentally verified. The results show that when the thickness of the flexible finger is 2 mm and the air chamber angle is 0 deg, the maximum bending angle of the flexible finger can reach about 136.3 degrees. Under the same air pressure, the bending angle is inversely correlated with the air chamber angle and finger thickness. The experimental error of the bending angle does not exceed 3%, which is consistent with the simulation results as a whole. When the thickness is 2 mm, the maximum end contact force can reach about 1.32 N, and the end contact force decreases with the increase in the air chamber angle. The RBF-PID control algorithm used has improved response speed and a better control effect compared to traditional PID control algorithms. This article provides a clear reference for the application of flexible fingers and flexible grippers, and this research method can be applied to the analysis and design optimization of other soft brakes.