The remarkable adhesion capabilities of biological geckos allow them to cling securely to a wide range of surfaces while maintaining exceptional controllability in attachment and detachment. This phenomenon has intrigued researchers, who have uncovered that the micro-scale structures of geckos' foot hairs maximize interfacial load sharing, while their precise foot movements leverage shear forces for swift and controlled release. However, translating these natural adhesion principles into a functional, pick-and-place manipulation system for handling macro-scale, three-dimensional objects remains a significant challenge. This paper introduces a novel soft, inflatable gripper that uses gecko-inspired micro-fiber adhesives fabricated on a flexible membrane to achieve strong attachment on a variety of complex and delicate 3D parts across different orientations. By incorporating membrane stretching to apply high shear forces at the contact interface, similar to the mechanism observed in biological geckos, the gripper significantly enhances adhesion control, achieving an adhesive switching ratio of approximately 204. This innovative approach not only enables reliable pick-and-place functionality but also enhances adaptability to diverse, non-planar 3D geometries, marking a step forward in bio-inspired adhesion technology for soft robotics.
Soft Grippers Using Micro‐fibrillar Adhesives for Transfer Printing