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(Doctors performing surgery with a daVinci robot.
This is an example of a scenario that requires specialized
grippers.)
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Doctors from UC Health performing surgery with a daVinci robot.
Graphical representation of robotic gripper impacting target object.)
The focus of this project was to use the ROBOTIQ tri-finger gripper as a case study, to evaluate the possibility of modifying the gripper fingers to retract and reduce the space they occupy in an open configuration. We were able to prove the concept by utilizing a simple parallelogram four-bar linkage and a unique two gear transmission. This transmission enables the linkage to change which link is ground (switching inversions) and allows the finger to go from closing to retracting. This linkage is driven by a spur gear chain from a DC motor, which is controlled by an Arduino unit.
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