Getting the right grip: Designing soft and sensitive robotic fingers: Scientists make a big leap in development of soft robotic grippers by integrating sensing mechanisms into 3D printable fingers

One of the main challenges in the design of soft robotic grippers is integrating traditional sensors onto the robot's fingers. Ideally, a soft gripper should have what's known as proprioception -- a sense of its own movements and position -- to be able to safely execute varied tasks. However, traditional sensors are rigid and compromise the mechanical characteristics of the soft parts. Moreover, existing soft grippers are usually designed with a single type of proprioceptive sensation; either pressure or finger curvature. To overcome these limitations, scientists at Ritsumeikan University, Japan, have been working on novel soft gripper designs under the lead of Associate Professor Mengying Xie.