An underactuated end-effector design for fruit picking

To realize the shape adaptability and stable grasping for fruit mechanical picking, a design scheme of end-effector with tendon-driving is proposed based on the underactuated principle. The statics analysis of finger and the design rules for improving grasp stability is researched, as well as the main structure parameters of the end-effector are determined. Analysis and calculation results show that the end-effector meets the design requirements and can achieve the better adaptability to fruit shape, nondestructive grasping, and has such features as simple structure, low cost, convenient operation and maintenance.