Research of Flexible Support Structure of Soft Fingers Based on Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

A soft gripper with a rigid spring is designed for soft fingers. The stiffness of rigid springs is too large to bend. Therefore, a flexible support structure manufactured by 3D printing is proposed. The two structures are analyzed experimentally. The parameters to make the finger bend better are obtained, and the bending variation of soft fingers is obtained. The bending displacement of the soft finger of the rigid-flexible structure is 12.51mm. The bending displacement of the soft finger of the flexible spiral support structure is 17.73mm. Finally, a soft gripper is made with optimal fingers, and the different objects are successfully grasped.