Advances in soft robotics and material science have enabled rapid progress in soft grippers. The ability to 3D print materials with softer, more elastic materials properties is a recent development and a key enabling technology for the rapid development of soft robots. However, obtaining the desired mechanical properties (e.g., stiffness) of the soft joints and information about the parameters to select in 3D printers is often not straightforward. In this article, we propose the use of interpenetrating phase composites (IPCs) materials with mathematically generated topologies based on triply periodic minimal surfaces for the development of soft grippers with desired mechanical properties. The flexible joints of the gripper can be realized through two or more phases that are topologically interconnected such that each phase represents a standalone cellular structure. As a case study, we present the design and development of a two-finger soft gripper as an example to demonstrate the application scenario of our approach. The flexible parts with desired stiffness values are realized by using IPCs materials in which the reinforcement distribution can be regulated on the basis of mathematical models. We characterized the properties of the material through a set of quantitative experiments on IPCs material specimens, and then we realized qualitative grasping tests with the gripper and a set of objects with different shapes and sizes. We showed that by properly regulating the properties of IPCs material it is possible to design modular grippers with the same structure, but different closure motions. Grippers can be customized for different tasks by easily assembling and disassembling fingers.

中文翻译：

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使用互穿相复合材料设计和原型制作软刚性肌腱驱动的模块化夹具

软机器人和材料科学的进步使软抓手的发展迅速。能够 3D 打印具有更柔软、更具弹性的材料特性的材料是最近的一项发展，也是软机器人快速发展的关键使能技术。然而，在 3D 打印机中获得所需的软接头机械性能（例如刚度）和有关参数的信息通常并不简单。在本文中，我们建议使用具有基于三周期最小表面的数学生成拓扑的互穿相复合材料 (IPC) 材料来开发具有所需机械性能的软夹具。夹持器的柔性接头可以通过拓扑互连的两个或多个阶段来实现，这样每个阶段都代表一个独立的蜂窝结构。作为案例研究，我们以两指软抓手的设计和开发为例，展示了我们方法的应用场景。具有所需刚度值的柔性部件是通过使用 IPC 材料实现的，其中钢筋分布可以根据数学模型进行调节。我们通过对 IPCs 材料样品的一组定量实验来表征材料的特性，然后我们实现了对夹持器和一组不同形状和尺寸的物体的定性抓取测试。我们表明，通过适当调节 IPC 材料的特性，可以设计具有相同结构但不同闭合运动的模块化夹具。通过轻松组装和拆卸手指，可以针对不同的任务定制夹持器。