Enhancing Grasping Diversity With a Pinch-Suction and Soft-Rigid Hybrid Multimodal Gripper

Multimodal grasping has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance the grasping diversity of grippers in response to the rapid expansion of application scenarios. Among various designs, the pinch-suction hybrid mechanism and the soft-rigid hybrid structure have proved to be two practical strategies to achieve multimodality. However, existing research on these two strategies still lacks simple and effective collaborative mechanisms to fully leverage the advantages of each mode while ensuring mutual noninterference. In this article, we propose a pinch-suction and soft-rigid hybrid multimodal gripper (HMG), integrating four operating modes into a compact structure. Two simple and effective collaborative mechanisms are introduced to coordinate between pinch and suction operation and between soft and rigid components, respectively. Through the collaboration of different modes, the HMG exhibits a competitive grasping diversity across four aspects, including weight (from 0.2 g to 10 kg), fragility (from jelly to aluminum profile), size scale (from 0.46 mm to 0.55 m), and shape (from poorly pinchable to poorly suckable). We further demonstrate its adaptability and robustness in handling irregular-shaped objects, and its proficiency in executing complex real-world manipulation tasks, underwater operations, and closed-loop grasping. Its enhanced grasping diversity is poised to accelerate diverse applications in daily life, industrial settings, and underwater scenarios.