控制软抓取器的电流变阀门的设计与性能探究

A soft gripper controlled by an electro-rheological valve is proposed for the current problems of electro-rheological fluid-driven soft robots, such as easy damage of soft body, high cost of complex cavity replacement, and difficulty of electro-rheological fluid production. This soft gripper uses the idea of modularity and concentrates the control system in the electro-rheological fluid control valve, while the soft fingers are standard parts, which has the advantages of easy replacement and simple control system. The electro-rheological effect means that when the electric field is applied, the electro-rheological fluid will instantly become rigid from the flowing state, showing a solidified state, and then rapidly recover when the applied electric field disappears. To use the electro-rheological effect to design a control valve system, an experiment to test the variable stiffness capability of the electro-rheological fluid is first conducted, and through the experiment, the influence of different factors on the variable stiffness capability of the electro-rheological fluid is discussed. The experiment results show that the electric field strength, the distance between the two electrodes, the length of the electrode, the width of the electrode, and the viscosity of the silicone oil have different effects on the variable stiffness capability of the electro-rheological fluid. With the results of this experiment, the optimal environmental conditions for the operation of the electro-rheological fluid can be screened. In addition, the soft gripper controlled by the electro-rheological valve can control the gripping mode of the actuator by controlling the flow direction of the fluid. The soft gripper prototype test verifies its gripping capability for different shapes of items.