This paper proposes a methodology for the design of a sub-centimetre underactuated compliant gripper. The gripper is optimized in order to maintain a proper force distribution on the phalanges and to avoid the deformation of soft objects. In order to keep the design simple and to limit the complexity of the control, each finger is based on a planar five-bar linkage. The five-bar mechanism is a well known and efficient underactuated mechanism. In this work, the revolute joints are replaced by flexible hinges in order to allow the miniaturization of the mechanism and make it easy to clean and sterilize. The behaviour of the prototypes built shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.

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To avoid dismantling very large equipment while ensuring high-quality repair, a new robotic process is developed for local post weld heat treatment in situ. The temperature around the area repaired is controlled using a coil-type portable induction heating source. By using a high-frequency parallel resonant converter, the system can be made portable enough to be installed on a compact manipulator. A method using finite element analysis is proposed to generate heating paths over complex shapes that keep temperature uniform in the volume treated. A heat treatment performed on a 13Cr-4Ni stainless steel component demonstrates the precision of the robotic process.

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