This study presents the design and test of a novel self-adaptive soft gripper, integrating pneumatic actuators and bistable carbon-fiber reinforced polymer laminates. The morphology was designed using the distinct structural characteristics of bistable structures; and the stable gripping configuration of the gripper was maintained through the bistability without continuous pressure application. The sufficient compliance of bistable structures makes the gripper versatile and adaptable to gripping deformable objects. First, a pneumatic-actuated method was introduced to achieve the reversible shape transition of the bistable structure. Next, three arrangement methods for actuators were analyzed with respect to the bistable transition and curvature, where it was found that the cross-arrangement is optimal. The effects of pneumatic actuators with different geometrical parameters on the response times are discussed, and the results show that the bistable structure can achieve shape transition within milliseconds under low pressure. Furthermore, the numerical and experimental results show good agreement between critical pressures and out-of-plane deformation. Furthermore, the shape retention function of the soft gripper was studied by using it to grasp objects of various sizes even when the pressure was reduced to the initial state. The bistable laminates exhibit sufficient compliance, and the deformed laminates can automatically accommodate the deformation of objects. The relationship between the weight and size of available gripping objects was studied; functional tests confirmed that the proposed soft gripper is versatile and adaptable for gripping objects of various shapes, sizes, and weights. This gripper has immense potential to reduce energy consumption in vacuum environments such as underwater and space.

中文翻译：

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具有双稳态结构的气动软夹持器

本研究介绍了一种新型自适应软夹具的设计和测试，该夹具集成了气动执行器和双稳态碳纤维增强聚合物层压板。利用双稳态结构的独特结构特征设计形态；并且夹持器的稳定夹持配置通过双稳态保持，无需连续施加压力。双稳态结构的充分柔顺性使夹持器具有通用性，适用于夹持可变形物体。首先，引入气动方法来实现双稳态结构的可逆形状转变。接下来，针对双稳态过渡和曲率分析了执行器的三种布置方法，发现交叉布置是最佳的。讨论了不同几何参数的气动执行器对响应时间的影响，结果表明双稳态结构可以在低压下实现毫秒级的形状转变。此外，数值和实验结果表明临界压力和面外变形之间有很好的一致性。此外，研究了软夹具的形状保持功能，即使在压力降低到初始状态时也可以使用它来抓取各种尺寸的物体。双稳态层压板表现出足够的柔度，变形的层压板可以自动适应物体的变形。研究了可用抓取物体的重量和尺寸之间的关系；功能测试证实，所提出的软夹持器是通用的，适用于夹持各种形状、尺寸和重量的物体。这种夹持器在减少真空环境（如水下和太空）中的能源消耗方面具有巨大的潜力。