Development of robotic hand for harvesting leaf vegetables using Fin Ray® effect

Abstract

By utilizing the Fin Ray® effect, we develop soft robotic hands that can grasp leaf vegetables such as spinach of hydroponic culture without damage only by position control. As a preliminary stage of the development, we fabricated two types of the hands using a silicon material. The gripping force and pull-out force were investigated through measurement experiments. As an experimental result of grasping of spinach, the soft hands realized grasping motion without damaging of spinach.