Dynamically inflatable deformable membranes
AssigneesToyota Research Institute, Inc., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsAlexander Alspach, Andrew M. Beaulieu
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Abstract
Embodiments of a deformable gripper are described. The deformable gripper comprises a base, a first inner membrane and a second inner membrane coupled to the base, an outer membrane attached to the base such that the outer membrane is positioned to enclose the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane, and an actuator operable to independently expand and contract the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane such that a portion of an outer surface of the outer membrane expands and contracts responsive to the expansion and contraction of at least one of the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane.
Claims20
A deformable gripper comprising:
- a base;
- a first inner membrane and a second inner membrane coupled to the base;
- an outer membrane attached to the base such that the outer membrane is positioned to enclose the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane;
- and
- an actuator operable to independently expand and contract the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane such that a portion of an outer surface of the outer membrane expands and contracts responsive to an expansion and contraction of at least one of the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane;
- wherein the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane are adjacent to one another in a plane parallel to the base.
A deformable gripper comprising:
- a base;
- a camera;
- a first inner membrane and a second inner membrane coupled to the base;
- an outer membrane attached to the base such that the outer membrane is positioned to enclose the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane;
- and
- an actuator operable to independently expand and contract the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane such that a portion of an outer surface of the outer membrane expands and contracts responsive to an expansion and contraction of at least one of the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane, wherein an expansion of the portion of the outer membrane is based on at least one of the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane contacting an inner surface of the outer membrane that is associated with the portion, wherein the first inner membrane and the second inner membrane are adjacent to one another in a plane parallel to the base.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.