Delicate grasping from earth to space through soft robotics

Niccolò Pagliarani

The BioRobotics Institute-SSSA

Delicate grasping has emerged as a critical capability in applications spanning from terrestrial environments to extraterrestrial missions. Soft robotics, with its inherent compliance and adaptability, offers transformative solutions for tasks requiring gentle handling. On Earth, soft robotic grippers have revolutionized agriculture, enabling the autonomous picking of fragile crops such as fruits and vegetables, and have advanced industrial automation by safely handling delicate objects in manufacturing and logistics. Beyond Earth, the unique challenges of grasping in space and planetary explorationsuch as operating in low-gravity environments and interacting with irregularly shaped or fragile extraterrestrial materialsdemand innovative approaches. Soft robotic technologies, inspired by biological systems, address these challenges through designs that integrate flexibility, variable stiffness, and advanced sensing. These robots can adapt to uncertain and dynamic conditions, perform safe and efficient grasping in unstructured environments, and minimize damage to targeted objects. My talk highlights the dual role of soft robotics in bridging the gap between Earth and space, advancing delicate grasping technologies for sustainable agricultural practices, industrial processes towards exploration missions.