Pneunets are the primary form of soft robotic grippers. A key limitation to their wider adoption is their inability to grasp larger payloads due to objects slipping out of grasps. We have overcome this limitation by introducing a torsionally rigid strain limiting layer (TRL). This reduces out-of-plane bending while maintaining the gripper's softness and in-plane flexibility. We characterize the design space of the strain limiting layer for a Pneu-net gripper using simulation and experiment and map bending angle and relative grip strength. We found that the use of our TRL reduced out-of-plane bending by up to 97.7% in testing compared to a benchmark Pneu-net gripper from the Soft Robotics Toolkit. We demonstrate a lifting capacity of 5kg when loading using the TRL. We also see a relative improvement in peak grip force of 3N and stiffness of 1200N/m compared to 1N and 150N/m for a Pneu-net gripper without our TRL at equal pressures. Finally, we test the TRL gripper on a suite of six YCB objects above the demonstrated capability of a traditional Pneu-net gripper. We show success on all but one demonstrating significant increased capabilities.

翻译：气动网络（Pneunets）是软体机器人夹爪的主要形式。其广泛应用的关键限制在于：因抓取物体易滑脱，难以承载较大负载。我们通过引入抗扭刚性应变限制层（TRL）克服了这一限制。该层在保持夹爪柔软性与面内柔韧性的同时，减少了面外弯曲。我们通过仿真与实验表征了气动网络夹爪应变限制层的设计空间，并绘制了弯曲角度与相对抓取强度关系图。实验表明，与软体机器人工具包中的基准气动网络夹爪相比，使用TRL可将面外弯曲减少高达97.7%。我们展示了TRL在负载条件下5kg的提举能力。在相同压力下，峰值抓取力与刚度分别提升至3N和1200N/m（未添加TRL的气动网络夹爪仅为1N和150N/m）。最后，我们在六种YCB物体上测试TRL夹爪的性能，其表现超越了传统气动网络夹爪的已知能力。除一种物体外，其余均成功抓取，显著提升了抓取能力。