Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Procedia CIRP 91 (2020) 486–488
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

30th CIRP Design 2020 (CIRP Design 2020)

Generic gripper for an unmanned aerial vehicle

Kiran Settya, Theo van Niekerka, Riaan Stopforthb,*
a
Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
b
Stopforth Mechatronics, Robotics and Research Lab, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
* Corresponding author. E-mail address: stopforth.research@gmail.com

Abstract

Research has been performed on the use of a robotic hand to be used as a UAV gripper and the contributions it would make to implement such a
product with a UAV. An overview was performed on UAV grippers available for purchase to determine what contributions would be of greatest
need from a newly developed UAV gripper. It was found that there is a lack of grippers capable of gripping objects of a variety of shapes. Design
features of the mechanical system and control system of the robotic hand that provides functionality of a UAV gripper which is designed to grip
objects of various sizes was then discussed. The robotic hand was tested on performing grips on objects of various shapes and sizes to determine
its versatility as a gripper and was shown to be used on all the objects tested. Grip tests performed by the robotic hand to evaluate its functionality
showed that the robotic hand was capable of lifting 30.4 N if an object is hooked onto it.
© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CIRP Design Conference 2020
Keywords: gripper; unmanned aerial vehicle; design

1. Introduction comparison. UAV grippers were investigated to also determine

The interest in UAVs has grown significantly over the past
decade, leading to the vehicles being used more for various
tasks in industry and private use. The tasks UAVs are used to
perform have also grown as UAVs are now used for cargo
transportation, surveillance, video recording and other
purposes [1]. Modular attachments are made for UAVs to
increase their capabilities such as sensors, cameras, grippers
and robotic arms to perform these tasks, which is pursued for
the Industry 4.0 period. The following sections will discuss the
capabilities of using the Touch Hand 4 as a robotic gripper for
a UAV and the benefits it may have over conventional grippers.
A typical UAV robotic gripper is the Amazon Prime Air drone
gripping a parcel with a robotic gripper [2].
The designs of UAV grippers vary regarding their designed
applications in order to optimise them for their applied use.
Depending on the application, the UAV gripper can be
controlled with different infrastructure, including the 5G
network [3]. To evaluate a generic gripper, an overview of other
UAV grippers with varying designs was performed to
determine the capabilities of the proposed gripper in
the contributions that could be made to the development of
UAV grippers by evaluating the limitations of the discussed
UAV grippers. Grippers attached to robotic arms are not
considered as these grippers operate differently due to their
additional dexterity.
The Mantis Claw is a gripper designed by Ben Kardoosh
which does not require any actuators, rather uses a one-way
locking mechanism in the gripper which causes the gripper to
open when gripping an object, but not release. The Mantis claw
is not a fixed hand, however, remains suspended by a rope
attached to the UAV. The drawback of the design is that the
Mantis Claw is limited to the types of objects which it can grip,
since the mechanism requires the gripper to grip the object from
its base, therefore cannot grip objects which are flush with the
ground including boxes. The design of the Mantis Claw allows
it to be extremely lightweight, whilst still having a strong
grip. [4]
The SilverLit Drone Gripper is a gripper designed by
SilverLit which remotely controls an actuated gripper. The
gripper contains two claws and is designed to be attached to a
specific UAV. The device can therefore not be used on any

2212-8271 © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CIRP Design Conference 2020
10.1016/j.procir.2020.02.203

This is a resupply of March 2023 as the template used in the publication of the original article contained errors. The content of the article has remained unaffected.
 Kiran Setty et al. / Procedia CIRP 91 (2020) 486–488 487

other UAV. The SilverLit Drone Gripper is capable of carrying

objects such as boxes, but given the orientation of the claws, the
gripper may have difficulty gripping objects which may not
have parallel planes on either end of it to allow the claws to
firmly grip onto. [5]
Jun Li’s Drone Gripper is a gripper designed by Jun Li which
is designed to pick up objects of various shapes and sizes. This
gripper is designed with four claws which are all controlled by
a worm geared DC motor which actuates all the claws at the
same time. The parts are created using an FDM printer and
assembled. Jun Li’s Drone Gripper is designed to grip objects
of any shape, however, does not have claws which move
independent from one another to grip objects with a complex
geometry. [6]
Other background research and literature survey of aerial Fig. 1. Open (left) and close (right) gesture of the UAV gripper
manipulation on small scale UAVs have been conducted in [7]
and in [8]. The contribution of the research discussed in this The control system of the gripper was designed to control the
paper is to have a gripper, which has the following features: gripper by three modes. The first is to open and close the gripper
• Stronger grip must be considered, with a switch control, causing the gripper to either grip objects
• The gripper is to adapt to the respective object’s shape, and by applying maximum force or open fully to release the object.
therefore any shape. The second mode allows the pilot to control the amount of force
• Modular digits could be replaced to allow for different the gripper applies onto the object. This function controls each
designed digits with different lengths, kinematics and shapes to claw separately, ensuring that the overall pressure applied is
be fitted according to the payloads the UAV will be carrying. uniform. The third mode is to control the gripper with
• Containing a flat design to reduce the effect the hand has on electromyography sensors applied onto the pilot’s forearm. This
the center of mass of the UAV. allows the gripper to be controlled with the same muscles used to
• Sensors in the digits allow for control of the grip strength to control the grip of the pilot’s own hand, thus mimicking the
allow for gripping fragile objects. operation of the pilot’s hand. This mode also controls the amount
The hand was operated in such a way, to be either controlled in of force applied by each claw. The logic flow chart of the gripper
for controlling the gripper can be seen in Fig. 2.
a binary manner, to either open or close the gripper or with a
Each digit contains the same essential components and
range to control the amount of force applied onto the object.
operates in the same manner. When the gripper is not operated
The gripper can be controlled with the use of a remote control
with the EMG electrodes, the motor control system is controlled
or with the use of electromyography (EMG) electrodes. simply with serial communication relaying the instructions from
the remote control. Both the EMG control board, and the
2. Gripper Design activation of the switch on the remote, can be programmed to
The gripper was designed to be capable of gripping give the same instruction to be transmitted to the UAV, so the
complex-shaped objects with a UAV which may not have been user can choose which method to activate the gripper. The
designed to be gripped by a conventional UAV gripper. The communication to UAVs are possible to be performed with
gripper is required to be as lightweight as possible to reduce the different infrastructures, including a 5G network [3]. The force
overall load on the UAV, whilst still being capable of gripping sensors controls the force of the gripper, to prevent the object to
heavy and large objects. The design process was an re-iteration be crushed.
of dimensions and kinematic models that were evaluated using
spreadsheets. The values calculated in the spreadsheet were 3. Gripping Tests
exported to Matlab, where the kinematic analsysis was modeled Tests were performed with the UAV gripper, to identify if it
and verified, to make sure that the grip with the fingers getting is able to grip different shape objects. A cylinder, round object,
together were possible. RE-iterations were required with the small objects, paper and even an electronic tablet, as shown in
spreadsheet, in the even that the kinematic model was not Fig. 3.
plausible. Once verified, the dimensions were experted to the
Computer Aided Design (CAD) package, where the final model
was implemented. The gripper was 3D printed using selective
laser sintering (SLS) with nylon 12. The designs of the claws
were to accommodate obects of non-conventional shapes and
be capable of gripping various shapes at any orientation. Due
to the orientation and shape of the fingers, the gripper was
restricted with the top surface, and could not grip objects larger
than the palm of the gripper, which is 93.7 mm × 93 mm.The
claws were required to be robotic to allow for the control of the
gripper to be done remotely. The surface of the claws were
required to have high static friction to ensure that the gripper
makes a firm grasp on objects with a possible slippery surface.
Fig. 2. Control operation diagram of the UAV gripper
The design of the UAV gripper is shown in Fig. 1.

This is a resupply of March 2023 as the template used in the publication of the original article contained errors. The content of the article has remained unaffected.
 488 Kiran Setty et al. / Procedia CIRP 91 (2020) 486–488
Fig. 3. Different shape objects being tested with the gripper.
Tests were performed with the gripper to determine the
capabilities of the device to grip objects. A grip strength test was
performed to determine the amount of force the gripper could lift
if the object was hooked onto it. A force of 30.6 N was possibel
to be lifted. The amount of weight that the UAV can lift is
dependant on the UAV specifications and the payload caabilties.
The size of the UAV and the specifications of the UAV correlate
with the ability and the application where it will be used. Open
time and close time f the gripper was tested to determine how
quickly the motors can grip and release an object. The time taken
to close the gripper is 4.5 seconds and time to open the gripper is
2.9 seconds.
4. Conclusion
The generic UAV gripper was capable of gripping the
different shape objects that were tested. The force applied to the
object was controlled by the force sensors which gave feedback
to the controller board. A maximum force was possible to be
applied by the fingers with a value of 30.6 N. The gripper is
required to have a mechanical design that adapts well to the shape
of the payload since fixed hand grippers have minimal dexterity
to maneuver themselves when gripping their payload [1].
Fig. 4. Gripper assembled to the UAV
This is a resupply of March 2023 as the template used in the publication of the original article contained errors. The content of the article has remained unaffected.
The use of the UAV gripper is intended to provide an option
to perform tasks that other grippers cannot do, due to the design
being similar to a hand. The UAV gripper contains the following
features which make the device suitable and provides unique
contributions:
• The UAV gripper contains silicone padding to ensure a stronger
grip.
• Each digit contains an individual motor to ensure grip of the
UAV gripping hand to adapt to the respective object.
• The design and orientation of the digits allow for the hand to
grip objects of any shape.
• Modular digits allow for different digits with different lengths,
kinematics and shapes to be fitted according to the payloads the
UAV will be carrying.
• The robotic hand is designed to be flat, therefore reducing the
effect the hand has on the center of mass of the UAV.
• Sensors in the digits allow for control of the grip strength to
allow for gripping fragile objects.
The UAV gripper is a versatile device which has proved to be
capable of gripping objects of various shapes and be modified
according to the needs of the user due to its modularity. Fig. 4
shows the orientation of the UAV gripper attached onto a UAV.
Fig. 4 was used as a demonstration to show the method in
which the hand gripper could be attached onto a UAV. The
chassis acts as a sturdy attachment to a UAV since it is used to
secure the digits and linear actuators in the device.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the funding of this research by the
South African Department of Science and Technology (DST)
Robotics Strategy of South Africa (ROSSA) programme, Eskom
TESP programme, the National Research Foundation (NRF) and
Manufacturing, Engineering and Related services SETA
(MerSETA).
References
[1] Ruggiero F, Lippiello V, Ollero A. Aerial Manipulation: A Literature
Review, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, February 2018, pp. 1-3.
[2] Amazon.com, “Amazon.com: Prime Air,” 2018. [Online]. Available:
https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-
Air/b?ie=UTF8&node=8037720011. [Accessed 2018 November].
[3] Vishal Sharma, Dushantha Nalin K. Jayakody, Kathiravan Srinivasan, On
the positioning likelihood of UAVs in 5G networks, Physical
Communication 31 (2018) 1-9,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phycom.2018.08.010
[4] Mogg T, The ‘Mantis Drone Claw’ turns any quadcopter into a high-stakes
arcade crane game, Digital Trends, 2015.
[5] SilverLit, Drone Gripper | Silverlit, 2018. [Online]. Available:
https://www.silverlit.com/a/product/drone-gripper/. [Accessed November
2018].
[6] Li JJ, Drone Gripper, Cameron Rhodes Johnson, 2015. [Online].
Available: https://www.junli.info/drone-gripper. [Accessed November
2018].
[7] Xilun DING, Pin GUO, Kun XU, Yushu YU, A review of aerial
manipulation of small-scale
rotorcraft unmanned robotic systems, Chinese Journal of Aeronautics,
(2019), 32(1): 200-214, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cja.2018.05.012
[8] Dmitry Bazylev, Alexey Margun, Konstantin Zimenko, Artem Kremlev,
UAV Equipped with a Robotic Manipulator, 2014 22nd Mediterranean
Conference on Control and Automation (MED) University of Palermo.
June 16-19, 2014. Palermo, Italy.