Numerical dynamic analysis of a single link soft robot finger

Abstract

In this paper, a solid, single link soft robot finger was modeled with SILASTIC P-1 Silicone, supplied by Dow Corning®. The material is anon-linear hyper elastic, strain dependent, room temperature vulcanized (RTV) rubber. When the fingers are actuated for grasping and object manipulation, they vibrate with excessive amplitudes, which will disturb the precise positioning of the fingers. Vibration analysis through numerical simulation was conducted in ANSYS® V12. The first ten fundamental frequencies and their mode shapes were numerically computed and presented from modal analysis. The lowest natural frequency of the finger model was found to be 2.14 Hz. The dynamic stiffness of the finger model was then computed from the natural frequencies. It was found to be nonlinear in nature. The dynamic characteristics of the finger model during the excitation between 1 Hz and 1000 Hz were studied in transient analysis. The peak acceleration occurred at 9.3 Hz, while the peak velocity occurs at 3.75 Hz and 4.8 Hz with the magnitude of 0.013 mm/s.