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CIRP 91 (2020) 301–305
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30th
30th CIRP
CIRP Design
Design 2020
2020 (CIRP
(CIRP Design
Design 2020)
2020)

Design Approach
Design 28th
Approach for Heavy-Duty
forConference,
CIRP Design Heavy-Duty Soft-Robotic-Gripper
Soft-Robotic-Gripper
May 2018, Nantes, France

A new methodology
Alexander
Alexander Müller
Müller toaa*,
*,analyze
Muhammed
Muhammed theAydemir
functional
Aydemir a, Arneand
a
, Arne Glodde
Gloddephysical architecture
a, Franz Dietrich
a
, Franz Dietrich
a
a of
existing products for an
a
Technical University
a Berlin,assembly oriented
Institute for Machine product
Tools and Factory family
Management, Chair identification
of Handling and
Technical University Berlin, Institute for Machine Tools and Factory Management, Chair of Handling and
Assembly Technology, Pascalstrasse 8-9, 10587 Berlin, Germany
Assembly Technology, Pascalstrasse 8-9, 10587 Berlin, Germany
Paul Stief *, Jean-Yves Dantan, Alain Etienne, Ali Siadat
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +49-30-314-23547; fax: +49-30-314-22759. E-mail address: alexander.mueller.1@tu-berlin.de
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +49-30-314-23547; fax: +49-30-314-22759. E-mail address: alexander.mueller.1@tu-berlin.de
École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers, Arts et Métiers ParisTech, LCFC EA 4495, 4 Rue Augustin Fresnel, Metz 57078, France

Abstract
*Abstract
Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 3 87 37 54 30; E-mail address: paul.stief@ensam.eu

Increased product customization based on customer requirements results in a large number of variants and thus smaller batch sizes in production.
Increased product customization based on customer requirements results in a large number of variants and thus smaller batch sizes in production.
In order to maintain a flexible and dynamic interlinkage within a production system in terms of industry 4.0, it is necessary to implement flexible
In order to maintain a flexible and dynamic interlinkage within a production system in terms of industry 4.0, it is necessary to implement flexible
and adaptive handling and gripping solutions into the production process. A suitable way of integrating more flexibility into production is the use
Abstract
and adaptive handling and gripping solutions into the production process. A suitable way of integrating more flexibility into production is the use
of compliant soft-robotic gripping systems, which are characterized by a high adaptability in terms of workpieces’ shape, size and structure
of compliant soft-robotic gripping systems, which are characterized by a high adaptability in terms of workpieces’ shape, size and structure
Incompared
compared
to state-of-the-art
today’s business
to state-of-the-art
grippers.
environment,
grippers.
Current
the trend
Current
focusmore
towards in research
product
focus in research
refers on design
variety
refers
and simulation
and customization
on design and simulation
of the repeatability
is unbroken. Due to this
of the repeatability
of development,
soft-robotic grippers with
the need
of soft-robotic grippers of
with
low payload
agile and capability, production
reconfigurable such as silicone-based
systems Soft-Pneumatic-Actuators
emerged to cope with various (SPA). Design
products and and process
product parameters
families. To of soft-robotic
design and optimizegrippers with
production
low payload capability, such as silicone-based Soft-Pneumatic-Actuators (SPA). Design and process parameters of soft-robotic grippers with
higher payload capability, such
the as Fin Ray ®, are matches,
usually revealed
productthrough
analysistime-consuming empirical test most
series. This paper demonstrates
methods aimthe
®
systems as well as
higher payload to choose
capability, such asoptimal product
Fin Ray , are usually revealed through methods are needed.
time-consuming Indeed,
empirical test series.ofThis
the known
paper demonstrates to
the
potential
analyze a of a new
product simulation-based
or one product familyapproach
on the in designing
physical soft-robotic
level. Different grippersfamilies,
product for heavy-duty
however, applications
may tolargely
differ revealincrucial
terms design
of the and process
number and
potential of a new simulation-based approach in designing soft-robotic grippers for heavy-duty applications to reveal crucial design and process
parameters
nature with low effort
of components. Thisand
factwithout
impedes empirical test series.
an efficient comparison and choice of appropriate product family combinations for the production
parameters with low effort and without empirical test series.
system. A new methodology is proposed to analyze existing products in view of their functional and physical architecture. The aim is to cluster
© 2020
©
these2020 The Authors.
The
products Authors. Published by
by Elsevier
Publishedoriented
in new assembly Elsevier B.V.
productB.V.families for the optimization of existing assembly lines and the creation of future reconfigurable
© 2020
This The
is an openAuthors.
access Published by Elsevier
article under B.V.
the scientific
CC BY-NC-ND licensethe (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review
assembly under
systems.
Peer-review
responsibility
Based on Datum of the
Flow Chain, committee
the physicalof CIRPof
ofstructure
Design
the products is ..analyzed. Functional subassemblies are identified, and
Conference
Peer-review under
under responsibility
responsibility ofof the
the scientific committee
scientific committee of the
theCIRP
CIRPDesign Conference
BioManufacturing Conference 2019.
a functional analysis is performed. Moreover, a hybrid functional and physical architecture graph (HyFPAG) is the output which depicts the
Keywords:between
similarity soft robotics; heavy-duty;
product families handling; grip-simulation;
by providing design design
support to both, production system planners and product designers. An illustrative
Keywords: soft robotics; heavy-duty; handling; grip-simulation; design
example of a nail-clipper is used to explain the proposed methodology. An industrial case study on two product families of steering columns of
thyssenkrupp Presta France is then carried out to give a first industrial evaluation of the proposed approach.
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
1.
1. Introduction
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 28th CIRP
Introduction conventional grippers
Design Conference
conventional grippers2018.through
through suitable
suitable interfaces
interfaces [3].
[3]. The
The
cooperation
cooperation principle,
principle, however,
however, uses uses aa set set ofof cooperating
cooperating
Today,Assembly;
Keywords: due to personalized
Design method; customer requirements,
Family identification product grippers
grippers for handling heavy or complex parts [4].
for handling heavy or complex parts [4]. Another
Another
Today, due to personalized customer requirements, product
customizations suitable
suitable way
way of of introducing
introducing higher higher flexibility
flexibility intointo production
production is
customizations are are steadily
steadily increasing,
increasing, which which leadsleads to to aa is
growing the
the implementation
implementation of of compliant
compliant soft-robotic
soft-robotic gripping
gripping systems.
growing variety
variety of of variants
variants and
and thus
thus toto smaller
smaller batch
batch sizes
sizes in
in systems.
production. In Generally, all
all gripping principles are
are capable of
of accomplishing
1.production.
Introduction In order
order to to maintain
maintain aa flexible
flexible andand dynamic
dynamic of Generally,
the product gripping
range and principles
characteristics capable accomplishing
manufactured and/or
chaining within production in terms of industry 4.0 with small specific tasks
specific tasks with
with different
different efforts.
efforts. However,
However, there
there are
are serious
serious
chaining within production in terms of industry 4.0 with small assembled in this system. In this context, the main challenge in
batch sizes, it is differences in
in terms of
of the acquisition, storage and setup costs
batch
Due sizes,
to is necessary
itthe necessary
fast
to
to implement
implementinflexible
development flexible
the
and
and
domain
adaptive
adaptive
of differencesand
modelling terms
analysis the
is acquisition,
now not onlystorage
to andwith
cope setupsingle
costs
resources as
as well
well asasa performance, whereby the soft-robotic principle is
resources in
communication in the
the andproduction
production
an
process [1].
processtrend
ongoing [1]. of digitization and products, performance,
limited product whereby
range in orthe soft-robotic
existing product principle
families, is
Suitable options for implementing more flexibility in distinguished
distinguished by
by the
the flexibility
flexibility in terms
terms of
of shape,
shape, size
size and
and
Suitable
digitalization, options for
manufacturing implementing
enterprises more flexibility
are facingofimportant in but also tocompared
be able toto analyze and to compare products to define
production are made structure to Itconventional gripping systems.
production in
challenges made possible
are today’s possible
market
by the
the introduction
byenvironments:
introduction a of different
different new
continuing structure
productcompared
families. conventional
can be observed gripping
that systems.
classical existing
gripping principles for Through the
thearehigh flexibility there also exist different
gripping towards
tendency principles for handling.
reduction handling.
of
Gripping
Gripping
product
principles
principles
development
include
include
times and Through
product families high flexibility
regrouped in there of
function also exist
clients or different
features.
modular, specialization, cooperation, and soft-robotic challenges in
in soft-robotic
challengesassembly soft-robotic in
in terms
terms of variability
of families
variability and compliance
modular, product
shortened
principles.
specialization,
With lifecycles.
the modular
cooperation,
In addition,various
principle,
and
there ansoft-robotic
isadaptations
increasingof a However,
control [5]. Another oriented
limiting product
factor is the areand
maximum
compliance
hardly to find.
payload of
principles.
demand of With the
customization,modular principle,
being at the various
same adaptations
time in a of
global a control
On [5].
the Another
product limiting
family factor
level, is
products the maximum
differ payload
mainly in twoof
basic configuration can be used to realize a wide variety of aa soft-robotic
soft-robotic gripper,
gripper, which
which is
is usually
usually less
less than
than 1
1 kg
kg [6].
[6].
basic configuration
competition can
with competitors be used to realize a
all overspecialization wide
the world. This variety
trend,of main characteristics: (i) the number of components and (ii) the
gripper Approaches that
that enable soft-robotic grippers for heavy
heavy loads
loads in
gripperis configurations
which configurations
inducing the
[2].
[2]. InIn the
development the specialization
from macro
principle,
principle,
to micro Approaches
type of components enable
(e.g. soft-robotic
mechanical, grippers for electronical).
electrical, in
custom-made gripper jaws are used, which are mounted on the
the range
range of
of more
more than
than 10
10 kg
kg to,
to, for
for example,
example, 300
300 kg
kg for
for the
the
custom-made gripper jaws are used, which
markets, results in diminished lot sizes due to augmenting are mounted on Classical methodologies considering mainly single products
product varieties (high-volume to low-volume production) [1]. or solitary, already existing product families analyze the
To cope with
2212-8271 © 2020 this
Theaugmenting variety
Authors. Published as wellB.V.
by Elsevier
2212-8271 © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
as to be able to product structure on a physical level (components level) which
Peer-reviewpossible
identify under responsibility of the scientific
optimization committee
potentials in ofthe
the CIRP Design Conference
existing causes 2020.
difficulties regarding an efficient definition and
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CIRP Design Conference 2020.
production system, it is important to have a precise knowledge comparison of different product families. Addressing this
2212-8271 © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
This is an©open
2212-8271 2017access article Published
The Authors. under theby CC BY-NC-ND
Elsevier B.V. license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review
Peer-review under
under responsibility
responsibility of scientific
of the the scientific committee
committee of the of theCIRP
28th CIRP BioManufacturing
Design Conference 2019
Conference 2018.
10.1016/j.procir.2020.02.180
302 Alexander Müller et al. / Procedia CIRP 91 (2020) 301–305
2 Author name / Procedia CIRP 00 (2020) 000–000

handling of industrial goods through industrial robots can't be complex to simulate, since the airflow must be simulated with
found in the market. consideration of the particle friction.
There are many potential fields for the application of heavy- Accordingly, very few compliant special gripper solutions
duty soft-robotic grippers due to their high flexibility and are used in industry for heavy-duty applications. The exact
adaptability. Logistics industry is one example, where different design of these gripper solutions requires robust repeatability,
goods in terms of size, shape, and mass have to be handled with which is usually associated only with a time-consuming
high throughput. Particularly, when loading and unloading characterization of the components through empirical test
ISO-containers or when handling in industrial high-bay series. The main disadvantage of this established approach is
warehouses, a great saving of time due to reduced set-up times the intensive effort, in which each deviation of a boundary
through high adaptability of the gripping mechanism for the condition requires a geometry adaptation of the gripper and
format-flexible goods is to be expected. consequently requires new manufacturing and characterization
Another potential application field for heavy-duty soft- of the prototype.
robotics gripper is the flexible interlinking of Industry 4.0
production systems. Different geometrical variations of a 3. Novel approach in designing a heavy-duty soft-robotic
product can be compensated due to a form-variable contact area gripper
of the gripper jaw, whereby the number of resources concerning
the gripper tools are reduced extensively. The following subsections deals with the gripper and
This paper aims to show, how potential adaptive heavy-duty material selection for a heavy-duty gripper and how these
soft-robotic grippers could be designed and characterized with materials could be characterized for the simulation environment
reduced effort. Through simulation of the gripping process, it is efficiently. After the material characterization, the simulation
possible to constructively adapt the heavy-duty soft-robotic of the gripping process and examination of the pull-off force to
gripper in advance to the specific products and their variations. derive the maximum payload are presented. The summarized
Through this process, it is further possible to validate different workflow is represented in figure 1.
gripping positions in advance and to minimize the failure risk.
Additionally, the damage of surface-sensitive objects can be
examined by the simulating the contact force between the
gripper jaw and the handled object.

2. Review and selection of soft-robotic gripping principles


for heavy payload

In comparable non-heavy-duty areas a variety of soft-robotic


gripper models already exists, which have been simulated or
empirically investigated and characterized [7] [8] [9] [10]. In
these simulation-activities, it's common to use parametrically
associative gripping jaw models for the characterization of the
developed soft-robotic gripper. These parametrical models are
often optimized through evolutionary algorithms considering
their constraints and requirements [10]. In the simulation, the Fig. 1. Heavy-duty soft-robotic design approach.
focus is usually set on the analysis of the deformation, and in
the empirical verification on the maximum payload of the
gripper [11], [12]. 3.1. Gripper selection
Some concepts can be found in the research field, which
examine the first approaches with regard to increased payload To demonstrate the novel approach in designing a heavy-
capacities higher than 1 kg. One result of these research duty soft-robotic gripper, a Fin Ray® gripper was selected
activities is a pneumatically actuated 4-finger gripper which is within this research. However, other soft-robotic grippers
able to lift a 5 kg object [6]. Another approach uses a gecko- designed according to the proposed approach would be able to
inspired adhesive friction surface, which is adapted to the handle heavy loads, too. The Fin Ray® gripper was selected due
contact area of a SPA. Through this adaptation, a three-finger to the rigid body joints, which produce an uniform distribution
gripper was able to lift a 11,3 kg smooth-surface-dumbbell of material strain through the material-bond structure. In
successfully with a wrapped grasp [13]. In both variants no conventional grippers with traditional articulated joints the load
large clamping forces are generated, which is necessary for the transmission takes place via line forces (sliding, roller and
handling of heavy and shape-variable products. Another needle bearings) or via point forces through ball bearings,
promising material-jamming approach is a granulate-filled which lead to unnecessary additional weight on the gripper
pillow stiffened by negative pressure [14]. The stiff surface of [15]. Another constructive advantage of the Fin Ray® gripper is
the pillow gripper adapts the topology of the handled object. the load-compatible structural design. The Fin Ray® gripper
Hence, the object is kept through form closure and the operating uses the shark-fin effect, which is characterized by the
vacuum. This stiffening method is very promising to handle displacement of the form-variable contact area of the gripper
heavy payloads damage-free, but unfortunately also very jaw in the opposite direction of the introduced load. Due to the
shark-fin effect, the Fin Ray® gripper represents an alternative
Alexander Müller et al. / Procedia CIRP 91 (2020) 301–305 303
Author name / Procedia CIRP 00 (2020) 000–000 3

to the classic industrial common jaw gripper and is able to exert layers are produced in a certain contour and controlled by the
larger clamping forces on the object to be handled compared to G-code of the printer. These printed layers have an anisotropic
a SPA. The proposed heavy-duty soft-robotic gripper was behavior, which is determined from the printing and the
designed in a parametric associative shape, based on the extrusion direction. How big these characteristic influences are,
FESTO case study [16]. In the design the traditional articulated should be checked in advance like it is showing in figure 2. For
joints were replaced by rigid body joints. the characterization of the nonlinear behavior of the material, it
is necessary to produce PU material samples that are subjected
to a material testing machine. In the investigations, a uniaxial
3.2. Material selection tensile test was carried out, which was realized by utilizing the
3D-printed tensile samples and compared with a FEM
In the design of flexible and adaptive soft-robotic gripping simulated tensile test sample. As part of these preliminary
systems, materials with a small Young's modulus are used in investigations, the widespread material TPU-95A was selected.
order to be risk-free in interaction with humans. Thus, their The shape of the sample was printed directly in the contour
Young's modulus is between the one of human skin with 102 Pa dimensions of the DIN-EN-ISO 527-2 - 1A standard and the
and the human muscle with 106 Pa [17]. Furthermore, the infill of the tensile samples was printed layer by layer.
material should be suitable for easy processing, have a low
weight, a high toughness and a high ductility as well as a high
load capacity. Especially silicones and elastomers are
commonly used for the production of soft-robotic grippers but
are only suitable for lower payloads due to their low Young's
modulus [18]. The material for the use in heavy-duty soft-
robotic grippers has to have soft-properties and should offer the
possibility of absorbing larger forces without damage through
the surface structure of the gripper jaw. At the same time the
material has to have sufficient flexibility to adjust the gripper
surface to the topology of the handled object. Depending on its
chemical composition and morphological structure,
Polyurethanes (PU) combines the essential properties of
thermoplastics, elastomers, and duromers and accomplish all
soft-property criteria [19]. Polyurethanes are assigned to the
polymer class (103 Pa < Young’s modulus > 107 Pa) and are
among the most commonly used soft-robotic materials [20].
Soft-robotic literature already has many examples of printed Fig. 2. Workflow material characterization.
end-effecters made of PU, which are commercially referred as
NinjaFlex or TPU-95A [11] [6]. Due to the increased Young's The results of the physical material testing of the
modulus of PU compared to silicones, they are well suited as thermoplastic polyurethane with a Shore-A hardness of 95
material for the production of heavy-duty soft-robotic grippers. (TPU-95A) were then transformed into a material model, which
The increased Young's modulus of PU offers the possibility to is needed for the FEM-simulation. In general, elastomers are
absorb larger forces with the gripping jaws and at the same time characterized by a strong nonlinear relationship between stress,
enough flexibility to adapt to the handled object. strain and time, and can be described by material-specific
parameters using several material models. Hyperelastic
material models are suitable for elastomer material models,
3.3. Material characterization which were considered in terms of their appropriateness for the
application of the gripping simulation. The considered
After the selection of PU as material for a heavy-duty soft- hyperelastic material models such as Mooney-Rivlin model,
robotic gripper, the material for the gripper simulation should Neo-Hookean model, and the Ogden model have different
be verified a priori and characterized, since no validated accuracies in the strain ranges. For example, the simplest
material data’s are given and the production process reliability material model (Neo-Hookean model) is only used in areas with
for the material is unknown. The production of soft-robotic a strain of up to 10%, which is too low for the use with most
grippers is increasingly being implemented by means of flexible soft-robotic gripping jaws [22]. The Ogden model
additive manufacturing since this technic is considerably less provides good accuracy at very high strain rates of up to 700%,
expensive compared to conventional methods with small batch which is more suitable for materials such as silicone [23]. The
sizes [21]. Furthermore, additive manufacturing can produce choice of a suitable hyperelastic material model fell within the
very complex components, which makes it possible to print scope of this proposed approach due to the high accuracies at
complex components of gripper elements directly from plastic strains in the range up to 200% [23] on the Mooney Rivlin
or negative molds for cast manufacturing. model, which is already a very broad application in the field of
The problem with the nonlinear characterization of soft- mechanical engineering [24].
robotic-grippers manufactured of printed plastic is owing to the After carrying out the physical tensile test, the results were
3D-printing process itself. Due to a defined print pattern, the transferred to the material model and implemented in the
database of the FEM environment. For idealization, the model
304 Alexander Müller et al. / Procedia CIRP 91 (2020) 301–305
4 Author name / Procedia CIRP 00 (2020) 000–000

of the tensile sample was simplified with an isotropic behavior. enforced displacement of the actuator, which further flattens as
The comparison of the physical and simulative results of the the support structure of the Fin Ray® gripper collapses.
tensile test shows an accuracy of about 90% at a 20% strain and
an accuracy of up to 98% at 10% strain (see Fig. 3). First
preliminary investigations with a Fin Ray® gripper show a
strain of approximately 15%, thus this idealized material model
is applicable to be used for the gripping simulation.

Fig. 4. Simulation of the critical buckling load of a Fin Ray® gripper.

In the second part of the gripper design, the pull-off force


(FP) is determined by an FEM simulation, which provides
information about the maximum payload (see Fig. 5).

Fig. 3. Comparison between simulated and real tensile test.

3.4. Grip simulation

Due to the characterization of the material model carried out


in advance, the predictive deformation in a gripping simulation
will be precise enough to derive the locally applied contact
force on the gripped object and to examine the maximum
capable payload of the gripper. Accordingly, gripping positions
can be simulated in advance, which provides information
whether the gripper can be used or has to be adapted.
Additionally, the maximum payload of the designed gripper can
be determined by calculating the necessary pull-off force
through the grip simulation.
For the simulation, the gripper with all its specific degrees Fig. 5. Simulated determination of the maximum pull-off force (FP).
of freedom was embedded in the simulation environment. With
the aid of a recommended parametric associative design, the The pull-off force describes the force needed to pull the
gripper will be easily adapted to different object sizes or be able object out of the grippers’ clamp. Depending on the load, this
to configure itself to different products as well. After the size force is composed of the weight of the gripped object and the
has been adjusted (gripping jaws height: 110mm; width: 40mm; reaction forces due to the inertia of the component mass from
depth: 20mm; wall thickness: 2mm; number of fins: 10; fin wall the movement. In the pull-off simulation, the object was pulled
thickness: 1mm), the behavior of the gripping jaws should be out of the gripper via an modelled enforced displacement. By
investigated. Regarding the procedure, the mechanical failure using small time steps, only the static weight forces are
of the gripping jaws has to be determined first to identify the determined as the reaction force, whereby the reaction force can
position of the maximum grasping force. To identify the be set equal to the maximum payload of the gripper.
maximum grasping force, the object is fixed and the gripper is For the simulative determination of the maximum payload
forcibly closed through a modeled enforced displacement. As a of a Fin Ray® gripper, the static friction coefficient of the
result, the gripper jaws collapse subjected to the overstress due contact surfaces should also be sufficiently known, since the
to the enforced displacement and the fixedly object. pull-off force in a Fin Ray® gripper is composed of the
In the case of the Fin Ray® gripper, the critical point is clamping force and the static friction on the gripper jaws.
recognizable optically by the buckling of the bar elements (see Printing with the material TPU-95A works flawlessly and
Fig. 4). Further indicator for the identification of the critical can be achieved within a few hours. The direct comparison
point is the maximum reaction force (see Fig. 4) caused by the shows that the gripper surface has a very similar behavior in the
Alexander Müller et al. / Procedia CIRP 91 (2020) 301–305 305
Author name / Procedia CIRP 00 (2020) 000–000 5

simulation. The simulation-based prediction in figure 6 shows Shape Memory Alloys. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 24(1),
that, in this Fin Ray® gripper-application, the accuracy of the 293-303.
[3] M. Honarpardaz, J. Ölvander and M. Tarkian, Fast finger design
material model is sufficient to map such a gripping process, automation for industrial robots, Robotics and Autonomous Systems
since the deformation is not greater than 14,8% (see Fig. 3). (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2018.12.011
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