Snake Robot Gripper Module for Search and Rescue in Narrow Spaces

This letter presents a gripper module for a snake-like robot to perform search and rescue tasks in a narrow space. The proposed gripper module has three features: (1) It can accommodate the fingers inside its body. (2) It has three fingers that can grip objects with irregular surfaces stably. (3) One of the fingers is equipped with a camera on the fingertip to search in a narrow space. To implement the above features in a small, light, and compact gripper module, we propose a novel design of a gripper module with three fingers and eight degrees of freedom. The joint configuration of the proposed gripper is unique compared with a general-type gripper. A prototype of the proposed gripper module has been integrated into a snake-like robot to demonstrate its capability of performing rescue tasks in a collapsed environment. The three features of the proposed gripper module are experimentally verified: it is light (0.4 kg), small (less than 68 mm in diameter), and powerful (grasping force = 2.48kgf).

Automated summary

This letter introduces a gripper module designed for a snake-like robot to conduct search and rescue tasks in narrow spaces. The module has three distinct features: it can house fingers inside its body, it possesses three fingers capable of stably gripping objects with irregular surfaces, and one of the fingers is equipped with a fingertip camera for search purposes. A novel design featuring three fingers and eight degrees of freedom is proposed to achieve a compact, lightweight gripper module. Experimental verification of the proposed gripper module showcases its light weight (0.4 kg), small size (less than 68 mm in diameter), and strong grasping force (2.48kgf), while a prototype integrated into a snake-like robot demonstrates its capability to perform rescue tasks in collapsed environments.