Grippers for Collaborative Robots

When putting a collaborative robot cell together, many design decisions have to be made. First of all, the robot itself, its different functionalities and specifications. Then the controller, the programming methods, the emplacement on the work floor have to be considered. Finally, you must make a choice of robot grippers to be used. Most robotic cell design underestimates the importance of the gripper choice for collaborative applications. I would compare the right gripper to the right tires on a race car. This may be underestimated too, since the tires are the only contact the race car has with the ground, where it gets all its traction. A race car with bad tires, results in a bad race. Same thing for a gripper, it is the only peripheral of the robotic cell that will touch the part you are manufacturing. A cell with a bad gripper will probably result in bad cell performance. 

By Mathieu Bélanger-Barrette on Mar 09, 2015 1:51 PM. 7 min read time