Robotic claw designs impressed the 2- and 3-finger grippers which can be so common with customers of collaborative robots. The claw-like design precept has additionally impressed a wide range of smooth gripper designs.
We’ll have a look at particular examples of those grippers in motion beneath, 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 sorts of claws and clamps used are mechanical and hydraulic. Hydraulic clamping/gripping methods are finest suited to excessive quantity functions and to functions the place important tolerances should be maintained. Utilizing electrical pumps and digital strain switches, hydraulic claws present round 1% accuracy in clamping drive.
Mechanical clamping and claw methods are an excellent match for small manufacturing batches and in conditions the place huge tolerances are acceptable. Mechanical methods are normally adjusted manually utilizing a wrench, which produces round 10% accuracy in clamping drive. Cheaper than their hydraulic counterparts, but in addition extra time consuming to function, mechanical claws and clamps are generally utilized in excessive manufacturing environments resembling throughout excessive temperature operations, the place hydraulic methods wouldn’t be protected 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 carry the pincers collectively. The precept is all the time the identical, nevertheless with the gripper utilizing jaws to understand an object.
There are lots of claw-like finish effectors discovered on collaborative robots, from smooth grippers to 2- and 3-finger grippers. These ‘robotic claws’ present ranges of intelligence and autonomy which can be means 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 accessible by UR+,a worldwide ecosystem of elements, software program, and software kits which have been 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 so as to obtain grip. From this easy claw-like design, ingenious engineers have developed a variety of versatile gripper applied sciences which have discovered makes use of in manufacturing functions from materials dealing with and meeting by 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 carry new ranges of performance to parallel gripper design. Adaptive grippers are in a position to adapt themselves to totally 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 immediately linked to your UR cobot’s wrist. Appropriate with UR3 by UR10e cobots, this gripper is used for materials dealing with, meeting and machine tending functions.
