Three-Finger Borescope-Mounted IPMC Gripper

Abstract

Ionic polymer–metal composites (IPMCs) are prominent soft actuators for millimeter-scale robotics due to their large bending deformation and high force-to-weight ratio. This work introduces an integrated soft robotic system featuring a three-channel IPMC gripper attached to a borescope for micromanipulation. A laser ablation technique partitions a single IPMC into three independently actuated channels, simplifying wiring complexity and enabling stable grasping of objects with complex geometries. While the hardware provides effective manipulation, teleoperation in microscale environments presents a significant challenge, as operators struggle to reliably determine contact and grasp stability from 2D visual feedback alone. To address this, we introduce a vision-based operator assistance system. Using a YOLOv8 segmentation model, our system processes the borescope’s video feed in real-time to identify the gripper fingers and target objects, providing clear visual cues for “touched” and “grabbed” states. This human-in-the-loop feedback enhances operator precision and consistency and, for the first time, enables a quantitative evaluation of the gripper’s performance. Experimental results demonstrate reliable grasping of diverse objects (0.3–6 mm) and validate the system’s ability to provide objective success metrics. This work contributes an integrated and intelligent micromanipulation system that augments human capabilities and establishes a framework for future autonomous control.