Designing an industrial robot gripper suitable for today’s industry is a challenging task due to the rapid evolution of products. Industrial robots are involved in machining, the transfer of parts, control and assembly, and the number of tasks performed by robots are increasing. Robots need to have the capability to adapt to new jobs consisting of new parts and new trajectories, and in most cases the preferred end effectors are grippers. In turn, grippers need to be flexible enough in order to cope with these changes. For this research, the authors propose a new gripper design which is capable of handling a large variety of parts with different sizes and shapes. In this research, an electrically actuated four-jaw gripper, with the capability of parallel movement of its jaws, is presented that also has the capability to fold the clamping jaws two by two and become a two-jaw gripper. Since the design is most suitable for additive manufacturing techniques, different additive techniques are analyzed for the manufacturing of the gripper. In the second part of the paper, different setups of the 3D printers are considered, such as infill percentage, raster angle and layer height. The main material on focus is a PET with grinded carbon-fiber reinforcement, but different materials are used for a better comparison of the rigidity of the system. This comparison is also presented in this article. The analysis of the material and 3D printing parameters are tested with Standard D638-14 probes used in a traction testing machine. After performing the traction test, the results are compared with FEA analysis. An optimal solution based on the experimental tests is proposed for the manufacture of the proposed gripper design.

This paper presents a synthesis of the literature for gripping mechanisms and also a gripper solution. In the first part of the paper were taken into account general aspects of industrial robots, the current state of the art for grippers, force analysis, calculation methods and composite materials. The second part of the paper contains my own contribution. Following the analysis of current requirements, a gripping mechanism capable of meeting the criteria of flexible manufacturing systems and industrial robots was designed. This contains two pneumatic cylinders, one for the main movement and the second for grouping the fingers two by two. Also, in the second part, experimental tests of different types of composite materials were performed, the results being used for finite element analysis.

For reduced mechanical stress, some chains with links made of metallic materials could be replaced by chains made of polymeric materials. A lower weight and a higher corrosion resistance would characterize such chains. From this point of view, research on the behavior of chain links made of polymeric materials under the action of tensile stresses can become important. Modeling by the finite element method highlighted some specific aspects of the behavior of a chain link subjected to tensile stresses. Later, we resorted to the manufacture by 3D printing of some chain links from four distinct polymeric materials, with the modification of the size of the chain link and, respectively, of the values of some of the input factors in the 3D printing process. The tensile strength of the chain links was determined using specialized equipment. The experimental results were processed mathematically to determine some empirical mathematical models that highlight the influence of the values of the input factors in the 3D printing process on the tensile strength of the samples in the form of chain links. It thus became possible to compare the results obtained for the four polymeric materials considered and identify the polymeric material that provides the highest tensile strength of the sample in the form of a chain link. The results of the experimental research showed that the highest mechanical resistance was obtained in the case of the links made of polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG). According to experimental results, when tested under identical conditions, PETG links can break for a force value of 40.9 N. In comparison, polylactic acid links will break for a force value of 4.70 N. Links printed in the horizontal position were almost 9-fold stronger than those printed in the vertical position. Under the same test conditions, according to the determined empirical mathematical models, PETG links printed in a horizontal position will break for a force of 300.8 N, while links printed in a vertical position will break for force values of 35.8 N.

In this paper, the problem of the behaviour of soft jaws that can be used to replace the steel jaws of grippers is studied. One of the advantages of additive manufacturing is the printing of fully functional parts. Choice of material is often related to the part strength. The mechanical properties of 3D printed parts should meet the service loading and, also, must be comparable with parts produced by traditional manufacturing techniques - machined parts or injection moulding. From the specialized literature information regarding the test results for effect of various printing parameters on part strength are available made in laboratory conditions and for standard test sample. For ABS materials various values for Young module are presented varying from 1.5 GPa to 2.15 GPa, for 100% infill rate and various modified parameters such as raster orientation. In order to study the behaviour of soft gripper jaws several part were printing and the resistance to bending was tested, by simulating the way a gripper works. An experimental stand was built using a force transducer and a displacement transducer to measure the deformation of the jaw, obtained by 3D printing, under load. The mechanical elastic hysteresis loop during an experimental loading/unloading was plotted and the amount of mechanical energy lost during a cycle, dissipated because the internal friction, was determined. Finite element analysis method was applied to make a comparison with the experimental results. In the finite element analysis, several simulations were considered, varying Young s modulus for the tested material.

The analysis of the methods and devices of measuring and verifying the angular dimensions leads to the conclusion that technologies have been developed and can be further developed for the control of angles between flat surfaces, for the application of which existing control equipment can be used, as well as other types, solutions, variants of technological devices for controlling angular dimensions. This diversity is mainly due to the diversity of the parameters and parts to be controlled and the diversity of the technical systems in which the technological devices are integrated, respectively, their constructive and functional parameters. Morphological matrices are one of the most effective tools for structuring, systematizing, combining, and evaluating existing solutions in this specific field and, it aims to make the research activity more efficient, thanks to its creative potential. The present paper considers the solutions for location-positioning with tilting devices using morphological box and presents the main principial solutions to develop the proper constructive solution in this specific field. Both the spatial and the flat morphological matrix are taken into consideration.