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Finite element modeling of grasping porous materials in robotics cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2023

Roman Mykhailyshyn*
Affiliation:
Texas Robotics, College of Natural Sciences and the Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA Department of Robotics Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA EPAM School of Digital Technologies, American University Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine Department of Automation of Technological Processes and Manufacturing, Ternopil Ivan Puluj National Technical University, Ternopil, Ukraine
Ann Majewicz Fey
Affiliation:
Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA Department of Surgery, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
Jing Xiao
Affiliation:
Department of Robotics Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA
*
Corresponding author: Roman Mykhailyshyn; Email: roman.mykhailyshyn@austin.utexas.edu
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Abstract

Handling and manipulating flexible porous objects is one of the main challenges in robotics for household and industrial tasks. Improving the design of grippers for flexible objects of manipulation is an important stage in the development of this topic. This article proposes a method of modeling a gripper for porous objects using the finite element method. It identifies the main parameters of the model that will affect the grasping force and the permeability of porous objects. The power characteristics of the obtained gripper model for different supply pressures, with varying porosity of the manipulated objects, are determined. The obtained characteristics are then used to find the correspondence of channel length for three textile materials with different permeable properties. An experimental study of the lifting force is conducted, and a comparison is made with the obtained modeling data for the presented samples. Additionally, using the obtained simulation data, an analysis of the pressure distribution on the surface of the porous object of manipulation is performed. As a result, it is found that the gripping device must use a design with elements to stabilize the distribution of pressure in its chamber, which will increase the stability of the gripping process.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Figure 1. Gripper design for flexible and porous objects [28] (1 – housing, 2 – fitting, 3 – compressed pressure supply hose, 4 – conical insert, 5 – holder, 6 – anti-vibration insert, and 7 – anti-vibration mounting bolts).

Figure 1

Figure 2. Experimental configuration for determining the grasping force for flexible and porous objects of manipulation [28] (1 – gripper body, 2 – fitting, 3 – housing, 8 – connector, 9 – textile material, 10 – bottom board attached to scales, 11 – the top plate fastening textiles to the bottom plate, 12 – the chamber of the gripping device, 13 – an annular nozzle of the gripper, 14 – devacuumation openings, and 15 – threaded connection of the holder and the case of the gripper).

Figure 2

Figure 3. Studied material [52] plain weave (x20 and x150): (a) Polyester 6; (b) Flannel 3.

Figure 3

Figure 4. Textile surface profile Polyester 6: (a) 3D drawing of a textile surface profile; (b) Graph of the obtained profile along three lines.

Figure 4

Figure 5. The schematic diagram for modeling a gripping device for flexible and porous objects.

Figure 5

Figure 6. Boundary conditions for air flow model.

Figure 6

Figure 7. Influence of the number of grid elements on the lifting force of the gripper (GT – gamma theta, G – gamma, FT – fully turbulence, SI – special intermediately, and I – intermediately).

Figure 7

Figure 8. Mesh grid of final elements of air flow.

Figure 8

Figure 9. The effect of the height of the model chamber on: (a) the lifting force of the gripper and (b) air flow through the channel.

Figure 9

Figure 10. The effect of the diameter of the model channel on: (a) the lifting force of the gripper and (b) air flow through the channel.

Figure 10

Figure 11. Influence of channel length on the lifting force of the gripper: (a) at various supply pressures and (b) at various diameters of the channel.

Figure 11

Figure 12. Power characteristics of the developed model of the gripping device for flexible and porous objects at various parameters of inlet pressure.

Figure 12

Table I. The ratio of the experimental to the channel length of the model.

Figure 13

Figure 13. Influence of the inlet pressure of the gripping device on the lifting force for textile materials (experiment and modeling).

Figure 14

Figure 14. Pressure distribution the cross-section of the model of the gripping device with marked position along the lines that pass.

Figure 15

Figure 15. Distribution of pressure on three sections of the chamber of the model of the gripping device: (a) 1 plane; (b) 2 planes; and (c) 3 planes.

Figure 16

Figure 16. modernized gripping device: (a) geometry and (b) pressure distribution in section 2 of the chamber.

Figure 17

Figure 17. Influence of inlet pressure on the lifting force of the gripper at various pressure supply designs.

Figure 18

Figure 18. Compressed air supply design with radial holes to stabilize the air pressure in the chamber of the gripping device for porous and flexible objects.