SCU-Hand: Soft Conical Universal Robotic Hand for Scooping Granular Media from Containers of Various Sizes

Automating small-scale experiments in materials science presents challenges due to the heterogeneous nature of experimental setups. This study introduces the SCU-Hand (Soft Conical Universal Robot Hand), a novel end-effector designed to automate the task of scooping powdered samples from various container sizes using a robotic arm. The SCU-Hand employs a flexible, conical structure that adapts to different container geometries through deformation, maintaining consistent contact without complex force sensing or machine learning-based control methods. Its reconfigurable mechanism allows for size adjustment, enabling efficient scooping from diverse container types. By combining soft robotics principles with a sheet-morphing design, our end-effector achieves high flexibility while retaining the necessary stiffness for effective powder manipulation. We detail the design principles, fabrication process, and experimental validation of the SCU-Hand. Experimental validation showed that the scooping capacity is about 20% higher than that of a commercial tool, with a scooping performance of more than 95% for containers of sizes between 67 mm to 110 mm. This research contributes to laboratory automation by offering a cost-effective, easily implementable solution for automating tasks such as materials synthesis and characterization processes.