Robotic claw designs impressed the 2- and 3-finger grippers which can be so well-liked with customers of collaborative robots. The claw-like design precept has additionally impressed a wide range of gentle gripper designs.
We’ll take a look at particular examples of those grippers in motion under, however first let’s briefly discover the variations between robotic claws and mechanical claws.
How does a mechanical claw work?
Mechanical claws are sometimes used for gripping/clamping gadgets in manufacturing environments. The 2 commonest varieties of claws and clamps used are mechanical and hydraulic. Hydraulic clamping/gripping programs are greatest suited to excessive quantity purposes and to purposes the place crucial tolerances have to be maintained. Utilizing electrical pumps and digital stress switches, hydraulic claws present round 1% accuracy in clamping pressure.
Mechanical clamping and claw programs are a very good match for small manufacturing batches and in conditions the place broad tolerances are acceptable. Mechanical programs are often adjusted manually utilizing a wrench, which produces round 10% accuracy in clamping pressure. Cheaper than their hydraulic counterparts, but additionally extra time consuming to function, mechanical claws and clamps are generally utilized in excessive manufacturing environments reminiscent of throughout excessive temperature operations, the place hydraulic programs wouldn’t be secure to make use of.
Mechanical claws use numerous strategies to shut their pincers. For instance, in some designs when a piston within the center is lifted, the pincers shut. In different mechanical claw designs, an electromagnet is used to deliver the pincers collectively. The precept is at all times the identical, nonetheless with the gripper utilizing jaws to understand an object.
There are numerous claw-like finish effectors discovered on collaborative robots, from gentle grippers to 2- and 3-finger grippers. These ‘robotic claws’ present ranges of intelligence and autonomy which can be approach past the capabilities of their mechanical counterparts. For instance, a robotic claw (or a robotic clamp) can present helpful suggestions to your cobot and PLC. This knowledge can then be used to finetune your manufacturing processes. Cobot grippers are additionally smaller and extra exact than mechanical claws.
Let’s check out a few of the claw-like and claw-inspired grippers out there via UR+,a world ecosystem of elements, software program, and utility kits which were validated and authorized to be mechanically, electrically, and digitally suitable with cobots from Common Robots.
Cobots with robotic claws
Parallel grippers (generally known as 2-finger, or 2-jaw grippers) contain two pincers closing parallel to the workpiece with the intention to obtain grip. From this straightforward claw-like design, ingenious engineers have developed a variety of versatile gripper applied sciences which have discovered makes use of in manufacturing purposes from materials dealing with and meeting via to packaging & palletizing. Parallel grippers are both electrical, pneumatic or hydraulic. One limitation of parallel grippers is that they’ll solely accomplish a pinch-type grasp, which does restrict their versatility. Adaptive grippers deliver new ranges of performance to parallel gripper design. Adaptive grippers are capable of adapt themselves to completely different product shapes with out having to be reprogrammed each time.
Gimatic’s KIT-UR-G, for instance, is an electrical, 2-finger parallel gripper that may be instantly related to your UR cobot’s wrist. Appropriate with UR3 via UR10e cobots, this gripper is used for materials dealing with, meeting and machine tending purposes.
