Design of a compliant and multi-material gripper mechanism

Abstract

This Final Year Project (FYP) will focus mainly on the design of a compliant and multi-material gripper mechanism. The project will showcase a modified MATLAB algorithm based on the volume-constrained/binary-phase system capable of solving and generating many compliant and multi-material gripper mechanism designs. During the literature review of relevant topics, it was discovered that there is a clear need for the development of a compliant and multi-material gripper mechanism as it is able to address the limitations associated with its single-material counterparts such as its limited deformation range, reduced durability, and restricted adaptability to changing environmental conditions.

Thus, this report would use the modified MATLAB algorithm with varying input parameters to generate a total of 40 different gripper designs for experimental purposes. The generated design from MATLAB would then be manually drawn and converted from its original 2D form into a 3D model in Solidworks before analyzing its workability and functionality in ANSYS Workbench. The volume change, amount of deformation and reaction force at the gripper’s tip, maximum equivalent stress in the structure and output-to-input force ratio would be measured, calculated, and tabulated in the results section. The modified MATLAB algorithm would be included in the appendix for easier referencing.