I. Introduction and Background (JV)

For this project, I wanted to focus on a mechanism that was simple enough to already be implemented and used in countless industries and workplace applications, so that I could begin the project with a design already in mind. This led me to decide on an arm and claw mechanism. The goal for this mechanism would be to grab an item and move it on a horizontal plane. 

There were plenty of designs to base my project off, but my initial idea was to have an arm consisting of a single four bar linkage and a claw consisting of two four bar linkages. The plan was for the claw to grip the item first and then have the arm move to translate the object.

Figure 1. Examples of arm and claw mechanisms