Multi-Objective Topology Optimization and PID-Controlled Grasping of Compliant Fingers for Parallel Robotic Grippers

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-764-4_16How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Adaptive grasping; Compliant gripper; Fin-Ray finger; Force control; PID control; Topology optimization

Abstract

Adaptive grasping of objects with varying geometry remains an important problem in robotic manipulation. Although compliant Fin-Ray-inspired fingers provide better passive adaptation than rigid grippers, the combined design of lightweight finger topology and controlled force interaction is still limited in many practical parallel gripper systems. This paper presents a topology-optimized compliant finger design together with a PID-based force control framework for a parallel robotic gripper. The finger was modeled with an inner triangular design region and an outer non-design frame, and density-based structural optimization was performed in ANSYS Workbench using the Sequential Convex Programming solver. The optimization objective combined maximization of directional deformation in the desired wrapping direction with minimization of equivalent von Mises stress, while a mass constraint of 15 g was imposed to match the reference Fin Ray finger. The structural model was analyzed under a fixed support at the mounting face and a distributed load of 10N at the selected contact region. The optimized density result was subsequently reconstructed into a printable three-dimensional finger geometry using SpaceClaim with manufacturing-aware post-processing. In addition, a PID-based force control strategy was formulated using a second-order servo approximation and real-time force feedback from a SingleTact sensor. A dedicated experimental test bench was developed for comparative grasping tests. Grasping experiments were conducted using an orange at 10N and 3Dprinted cylinder and sphere objects at 5 N, with ten repeated trials for each condition. The optimized finger improved the wrapping angle by 9.5%, 12.3%, and 28.7% for the orange, cylinder, and sphere, respectively, compared with the reference Fin-Ray finger. The study provides a practical design, control, and validation workflow for compliant robotic fingers and demonstrates improved object-contact coverage for the optimized design under the tested grasping condition.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Gidugu Lakshmi Srinivas
AU  - Pataki Abel Endre
AU  - Hasanaj Dea
AU  - Mathias Brandstötter
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - Multi-Objective Topology Optimization and PID-Controlled Grasping of Compliant Fingers for Parallel Robotic Grippers
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Mechanics, Materials and Mechatronics (ICM³ 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 187
EP  - 199
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-764-4_16
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-764-4_16
ID  - Srinivas2026
ER  -