Self-Aligning Grippers and Fixtures

这笔用于初步研究的小额赠款为自对准夹具和固定装置的分析和合成提供资金，重点是演示2D方法如何扩展到3D。 当工业零件被抓取或插入夹具时，初始零件位置和方向的微小变化可能导致卡住、滑动和损坏。 尽管制造工程师们已经根据直觉设计了自对准夹具，但其目标是根据详细的零件几何形状以及推动、倾倒、卡住和可访问性的力学来定义最佳解决方案。 算法将被开发，作为输入的CAD模型的一部分，并产生作为输出规格的自对准夹具和夹具。 研究者和一位博士学生将在实验室中使用工业机器人来实现这样的夹具并进行机械实验，以研究零件的机械性能和平均故障间隔时间。本项目将产生零件获取力学的新理论模型，新的数据结构和新的硬件配置，这些将提高自动化工业制造系统的可靠性。 夹持器硬件将是廉价的，并有近期的适用性。 自对准夹持器可以简化装配，提高可靠性，降低实施成本，并方便广泛的制造应用的设置。

This small grant for preliminary research provides funding for analysis and synthesis of self-aligning grippers and fixtures, with an emphasis on demonstrating how 2D methods extend to 3D. Small variations in initial part position and orientation can lead to jamming, slippage, and damage as industrial parts are grasped or inserted into fixtures. Although manufacturing engineers have designed self-aligning grippers based on intuition, the goal is to define optimal solutions that depend on detailed part geometry and the mechanics of pushing, toppling, jamming, and accessibility. Algorithms will be developed that take as input a CAD model of the part and generate as output specifications for self-aligning grippers and fixtures. The investigator and one Ph.D. student will implement such grippers and perform mechanical experiments using the industrial robot in the lab to study part mechanics and performance in terms of Mean Time Between Failure.This project should produce new theoretical models of the mechanics of part acquisition, new data structures, and new hardware configurations that will improve the reliability of automated industrial manufacturing systems. The gripper hardware will be inexpensive and have near-term applicability. Self-aligning grippers can simplify assembly, increase reliability, decrease implementation cost, and facilitate setup for a broad range of manufacturing applications.