Friction variable rubber pad using magnetorheological elastomer for robot grippers

This paper is focused on developing a friction-variable rubber pad using magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) for robot gripper applications. Tribological experiments were conducted on the designed rubber pad to analyze the friction variation on various surface types such as plastics, aluminum, and glass. Experimental results showed that the frictional coefficient can be varied as much as 40% when a magnetic field of 250 mT was applied. Furthermore, prototypes of robot grippers with MRE pads were manufactured and tested to analyze the translation and rotation friction force control in grabbing, releasing, and turning an object. Experiments confirmed that the proposed robot gripper pad can control the overall friction force by more than 48%, validating the applicability of the MRE pads for robotic applications.