Attention Makers

CATEGORY: ACCESSIBILITY

Three Finger Gripper using NiTi Coil Actuators

MAKERS: Shubham , Utkarsh , Raghvendra COUNTRY: India

The project involves the development of a 3D printed, low cost, portable, force controlled three finger gripper using NiTi spring actuators. It is operated using a micro-controller, control-circuit and batteries.

 

The Purpose

The project's aim is to develop a low cost gripping technology to provide dexterous gripping of objects using force gripping technique. The gripper consists of three fingers with each finger made up of four identical links and a base representing the palm of a hand. It has four DOF (degree of freedom) per a finger. The entire gripper has a DOF of 20. Such a design was inspired by the dexterous working of the human hand. The current design is programmed to implement only power grip.

The Technology

The links and base of the gripper are 3D printed. The gripper is driven by Shape Memory Alloy (Nickel Titanium Alloy) coil actuators. The NiTi coil actuators are heat/current driven actuators. The gripper uses the contraction property of Nickel Titanium Alloys to produce actuation in the gripper. When current is provided NiTi coil on the ventral side of the gripper, the gripping action takes place while if current is provided to dorsal side, the release action takes place. The grasp and release is controlled through two switches and the current through the actuators is regulated using a micro-controller.

Additional Details

-> The duration of gripping is depends on how long the switch is pressed. After the switch is released the micro-controller maintains a minimum current to maintain a grip on the object. -> The links of the fingers of the gripper being similar to bones human finger can be used to grip objects of various shapes. -> Since the links attached are identical, hence the addition/ removal of new links to increase/decrease the size of fingers can be easily done. -> The current model is being further developed for a full autonomous functionality and to perform even minute and tedious tasks.

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