Common Robots offers a variety of UR certified grippers by UR+ –a worldwide ecosystem of parts, software program, and software kits which were validated and licensed to be mechanically, electrically and digitally suitable with cobots from Common Robots.
At first, the sheer number of grippers accessible can appear daunting, particularly if you happen to’re new to automation. There are electrical grippers, pneumatic grippers, tender grippers and vacuum grippers. There are 2-finger and 3-finger grippers, magnetic grippers, mechanical grippers and adaptive grippers, and every gripper offers distinctive benefits in assist of your machine tending, materials dealing with and meeting functions.
This text is about parallel grippers, so if you happen to’re at a extra preliminary stage in your gripper journey and also you’re questioning ‘What are the forms of grippers?’ strive studying this article first. (If you’re in search of an outline of among the variations between grippers and need to understand how vacuum grippers and pneumatic grippers work, for instance, take a look at this article.)
What’s a parallel gripper?
Parallel grippers are a sort of commercial robotic gripper that includes two fingers that stay parallel once they open and shut. In operation, the fingers shut onto the workpiece, grip it throughout the duty and launch the thing when required. The robotic gripper mechanism present in parallel grippers makes them an incredible match for dealing with elements with predictable shapes and they’re usually chosen for machine tending and choose & place sort functions. Parallel grippers are probably the most fashionable gripper sorts within the UR+ ecosystem as a result of their ease of use.
Parallel grippers might be powered by electrical energy or pneumatics. Electrical parallel grippers use electrical energy to energy motors. The motors are linked to the gripper’s fingers in such a approach that the round movement of the motor is translated right into a linear movement. In the meantime, pneumatically-powered parallel grippers use air strain to open and shut the gripper’s fingers.
Parallel grippers are additionally present in ‘mechanical gripper’ and ‘adaptive gripper’ types. The time period ‘mechanical gripper’ refers to any industrial gripper that makes use of movable levers (or ‘fingers’) to understand objects. Mechanical grippers provide dependable efficiency in all types of producing functions from machine tending to meeting, however adaptive grippers are extra versatile, since they permit your robotic to choose up all kinds of various objects with out the end-user having to step in and alter the gripper.
Parallel grippers shouldn’t be confused with 3-finger or angled grippers. 3-finger grippers have a extra complicated mechanism that grasp the workpiece with three fingers which are offset by 120°. In operation, the fingers slide the workpiece to the gripper’s centre to securely grasp the thing. In the meantime, angled grippers are so-called as a result of they use fingers that strategy the gripper from a wide range of angles (e.g. 80° or 30°). For some functions, akin to when there isn’t house for a parallel gripper to open and shut efficiently, angled grippers could be the better option.
Now that we’ve coated among the fundamentals, let’s check out among the UR certified parallel grippers accessible by UR+.
Robotiq’s Hand-E gripper offers a 50-mm parallel stroke, which makes it preferrred for precision meeting duties. The gripper’s sealed design is rugged sufficient to make sure reliability within the hardest manufacturing circumstances, together with CNC machining. Obtainable in each twin and single configurations and specifically designed to be used with collaborative robots, Hand-E additionally offers adjustable power, rounded edges, self-locking functionalities, and different options that make it protected to make use of in shut proximity to people. The Hand-E is actually adaptive, which implies that it is ready to autonomously regulate to many various kinds of merchandise of various shapes and sizes.
