A kirigami-inspired soft gripper based on liquid crystal elastomer integrated with strain sensing

Soft robotic grippers are capable of handling objects with diverse shapes and sizes. However, achieving reliable grasping of delicate objects and sustaining prolonged holding with minimal energy input remains challenging. This study reports a miniaturized liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) soft gripper featuring a kirigami-inspired architecture, which is effective for capturing and securing delicate and slippery objects. The gripper consists of an LCE kirigami structure, which serves as the active material for generating deformation, and a conductive composite layer (CCL), which serves as a piezoresistive material for detecting deformations. In addition, the gripper opens its fingers when actuated, and closes its fingers for gripping objects when unactuated. Therefore, the device does not require any power when continuously holding objects. The gripper is also capable of detecting grasped object sizes enabled by the CCL. Demonstrations of grasping objects of various shapes, materials, and weights were also provided.