Tight Clearance Peg-in-Hole Motion Planner Using Gripper with Flexible Joint and Differential Infinity Rotatable Function of Palm

We propose a method for a peg-in-hole task with tight clearance using a gripper developed in this study. The compact gripper developed is equipped with a flexible joint and a differential mechanism that allows infinite palm rotation. The flexible joint allows fingertip movement in any direction and in precise assembly tasks, even under positional errors. The differential mechanism enables unlimited rotation of the gripper palm to accommodate various assembly tasks. The compact design of the gripper enables effective operation in narrow spaces. We successfully achieved a peg-in-hole configuration by aligning a peg with a hole by pressing and rotating it without complex control or hole searching. Subsequently, the alignment is corrected via state recognition using a force sensor. The effectiveness of the developed gripper and control method is confirmed experimentally.