Bio‐Inspired Pneumatic Soft Gripper With Adjustable Range and Grasping Force

Soft grippers often suffer from excessive degrees of freedom, structural deformation, and insufficient gripping force. To address these challenges, a soft pneumatic gripper inspired by the oral structure of the lamprey is proposed, driven through a synergistic positive–negative pressure actuation mechanism. A dual‐chamber configuration is developed by combining an upper positive‐pressure pneumatic chamber with a lower negative‐pressure suction chamber to enhance gripping stability and adaptability. Rectangular chambers with equal length‐to‐width ratios provide superior deformation control and output efficiency. A kind of high‐stiffness E620 silicone is selected for the upper section and a soft silicone named Ecoflex 00‐50 for the lower section to achieve a balance between rigidity and flexibility. Mechanical testing confirms that the actuator can generate a single‐finger grasping force of 1.4 N at a pressure of 20 kPa and a single‐finger gripping force of 6.3 N at a pressure of 50 kPa. Constitutive parameters are obtained from uniaxial tensile tests by curve fitting, serving as the foundation for finite element simulations. This actuator is fabricated using a die‐casting process and tested on a pneumatic control platform. Experimental results validate the design and demonstrate controllable and enhanced gripping performance, with better adaptability in diverse conditions.