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，由于物体从夹持中滑脱，无法抓取较大有效载荷。我们通过引入具有扭转刚度的应变限制层克服了这一限制。该层在保持夹爪柔性和面内柔顺性的同时，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，并映射了弯曲角度与相对夹持力。研究发现，与软体机器人工具包中的基准气动网络夹爪相比，采用扭转约束应变限制层在测试中可将面外弯曲减少高达97.7%。我们展示了使用该应变限制层后5kg的举升能力。在相同压力下，采用优化层的夹爪峰值夹持力相对提升至3N、刚度提升至1200N/m，而未采用的基准夹爪对应值仅为1N和150N/m。最后，我们在六个YCB物体套件上测试了含应变限制层的夹爪，其性能超越传统气动网络夹爪的已知能力。除一个物体外，该夹爪成功夹持所有物体，展现出显著增强的能力。