A new soft fingertip based on electroactive hydrogels

In this work we present the design and application of an active soft fingertip for robotic hands. This fingertip is based on a new type of hydrogel which has been designed with the purpose of overcoming some of the major drawbacks of previous hydrogels such as the dependency of aqueous solutions. Fingertip applications benefit from the changes of stiffness and volume which take place in our hydrogel when electric fields are applied. Theoretical modeling and experimental verification of the fingertip properties are presented in this work, showing its potential usability in grasping and manipulation tasks.