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Micromachines
Volume 17
Issue 6
10.3390/mi17060668
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Article

Size Estimation of Grasped Objects Using a Soft Pneumatic Gripper Integrated with a Piezoresistive CNT/PDMS Sensor

by
Wongi Hong
†,
Jaehoon Jeong
†,
Kun-Woo Nam
,
Won-Jin Kim
,
Youngjae Cho
,
Eojin Ji
,
Taehyun Park
,
Dong Hun Lee
* and
Sung-Hoon Park
*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Soongsil University, 369 Sangdo-ro, Dongjak-Gu, Seoul 06978, Republic of Korea
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Micromachines 2026, 17(6), 668; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi17060668
Submission received: 8 April 2026 / Revised: 21 May 2026 / Accepted: 26 May 2026 / Published: 28 May 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS and NEMS Sensors: Innovations, Applications, and Future Directions in Micro/Nano Technologies)
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Abstract

Soft pneumatic grippers are well-suited for grasping irregular objects owing to their inherent compliance and ability to adapt to a wide range of shapes and sizes. However, their ability to quantitatively estimate object size during the grasping process remains limited. To address this limitation, this study proposes a soft pneumatic gripper integrated with a piezoresistive CNT/PDMS composite sensor and investigates the feasibility of object size estimation using only sensor signals. The pressure-sensing characteristics of the CNT/PDMS sensor were evaluated over a pressure range of 0–500 kPa, and the 1 wt% CNT/PDMS sensor exhibited the highest sensitivity of approximately 0.016 kPa−1 in the initial linear pressure region. To this end, the normalized resistance response under applied pneumatic pressure was analyzed independent of external visual information, and a size estimation method was established based on the relationship between initial contact pressure and object diameter. Grasping experiments using spherical objects of varying diameters revealed that the resistance response patterns were clearly distinguishable according to object size, with larger objects exhibiting significant resistance changes at lower applied pressures. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of estimating the size of a grasped object based on the grasp onset pressure derived from the sensor response. The results of this study provide a foundation for future soft robotic systems capable of recognizing contact conditions and object size through sensor-based feedback. Furthermore, these findings may be extended to adaptive manipulation technologies involving real-time pneumatic pressure control.
Keywords: carbon nanotube; pressure sensor; piezoresistive effect; soft gripper carbon nanotube; pressure sensor; piezoresistive effect; soft gripper

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Hong, W.; Jeong, J.; Nam, K.-W.; Kim, W.-J.; Cho, Y.; Ji, E.; Park, T.; Lee, D.H.; Park, S.-H. Size Estimation of Grasped Objects Using a Soft Pneumatic Gripper Integrated with a Piezoresistive CNT/PDMS Sensor. Micromachines 2026, 17, 668. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi17060668

AMA Style

Hong W, Jeong J, Nam K-W, Kim W-J, Cho Y, Ji E, Park T, Lee DH, Park S-H. Size Estimation of Grasped Objects Using a Soft Pneumatic Gripper Integrated with a Piezoresistive CNT/PDMS Sensor. Micromachines. 2026; 17(6):668. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi17060668

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hong, Wongi, Jaehoon Jeong, Kun-Woo Nam, Won-Jin Kim, Youngjae Cho, Eojin Ji, Taehyun Park, Dong Hun Lee, and Sung-Hoon Park. 2026. "Size Estimation of Grasped Objects Using a Soft Pneumatic Gripper Integrated with a Piezoresistive CNT/PDMS Sensor" Micromachines 17, no. 6: 668. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi17060668

APA Style

Hong, W., Jeong, J., Nam, K.-W., Kim, W.-J., Cho, Y., Ji, E., Park, T., Lee, D. H., & Park, S.-H. (2026). Size Estimation of Grasped Objects Using a Soft Pneumatic Gripper Integrated with a Piezoresistive CNT/PDMS Sensor. Micromachines, 17(6), 668. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi17060668

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