Second Report of Active Bending Thin Mechanism with High Stiffness

-Extension of movable range by differential control of two thin plate rotary input -

Abstract

The thinness of a gripper is a big advantage. However existing thin sheet mechanisms have a same disadvantage such as low stiffness. This problem cause reducing its capacity to grasp object. Previously, we proposed active bending sheet mechanism with high stiffness. High rigidity was achieved by deforming the cross-sectional shape as well as the curvature. proposed a mechanism that deforms two thin plates connected by a rotational fulcrum by applying rotational input to them. In this paper, we have realized a bending mechanism with an extended range of motion by controlling the two thin plates independently.