Nieuwenhuyzen, Tijn, van (2026) Integration of chiral mechanical metamaterials in soft robotic grippers for agricultural harvesting. Integration Project, Industrial Engineering and Management.
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INTEGRATION-OF-CHIRAL-MECHANICAL-METAMATERIALS-IN-SOFT-ROBOTIC-GRIPPERS-FOR-AGRICULTURAL-HARVESTING.pdf Download (5MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Soft robotic grippers have great potential for handling delicate agricultural products, but a key challenge lies in balancing mechanical softness for gentle interaction with sufficient structural stiffness to enable stable and reliable grasping. This thesis investigates the integration of a chiral mechanical metamaterial into a soft robotic gripper to convert axial deformation into controlled rotational motion and assess its effect on rotation transfer and contact behavior. Finite element simulations were performed to analyze the rotational response of the gripper and the resulting contact behavior between the gripper and a grasped object. The results show that axial loading of the chiral structure is converted into controlled rotational motion of the gripper, which can be effectively transferred to a grasped object. Frictional contact enables the transfer of rotational motion, while comparing frictional and frictionless contact conditions shows that friction has a limited influence on the contact behavior during twisting of deformable objects. These findings demonstrate the potential of chiral mechanical metamaterials to enhance soft robotic grippers with combined grasping and twisting capabilities for agricultural harvesting applications.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Integration Project) |
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| Supervisor name: | Krushynska, A.O. and Spanos, I. |
| Degree programme: | Industrial Engineering and Management |
| Thesis type: | Integration Project |
| Language: | English |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Feb 2026 09:41 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Feb 2026 09:41 |
| URI: | https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/37231 |
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