Design, Modeling, and Experimental Verification of Passively Adaptable Roller Gripper for Separating Stacked Fabric

Abstract

This letter presents a novel approach to fabric manipulation through the development and optimization of a single-actuator-driven roller gripper. Focused on addressing the challenges inherent in handling fabrics with diverse thicknesses and materials, our gripper employs a passive adaptable mechanism driven by springs, enabling effective manipulation of fabrics ranging from 0.1 mm to 2.25 mm in thickness. We analyze gripper-fabric interaction forces to identify the parameters that influence successful grasping. We then optimize the gripper's normal forces and the roller's tangential force using the proposed model. Systematic evaluations demonstrated the gripper's capability to separate individual layers from fabric stacks, achieving a 94.9% success rate across multiple fabric types. Overall, this research offers a compact, cost-effective solution with broad applicability in diverse industrial automation contexts, providing valuable insights for advancing robotic fabric handling systems.