Additional Funding Sources
This work was supported by State of Idaho appropriated funding for the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) and the SF REU Site Award #2051090 for Advanced Manufacturing for a Sustainable Energy Future; this research utilized equipment at CAES provided by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) under the Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho Operation Office (an agency of the U.S. Government Contract DE-AC07-05ID145142; ISU Robotics Laboratory [1] Shaibel Das [2] Matthew Berry [3] Levander Jefferson.
Abstract
The goal of this project was to Develop a tool-changing mechanism for industrial robotic applications that could significantly undercut the cost of fabrication compared to what is currently available for the industrial market. The vast majority of tool-changing mechanisms currently available operate using pneumatics which requires the use of machining and tight tolerances to operate properly. In order to reduce fabrication costs for the tool changer developed in this project a linkage mechanism was developed that could be 3D printed.
In the 7 weeks’ time provided to work on the project the mechanical and electric components of the system were completed, while the software development and integration with exterior robotic systems will be left up to future work.
Automatic Tool Changing Mechanism for Industrial Robotics Arms
The goal of this project was to Develop a tool-changing mechanism for industrial robotic applications that could significantly undercut the cost of fabrication compared to what is currently available for the industrial market. The vast majority of tool-changing mechanisms currently available operate using pneumatics which requires the use of machining and tight tolerances to operate properly. In order to reduce fabrication costs for the tool changer developed in this project a linkage mechanism was developed that could be 3D printed.
In the 7 weeks’ time provided to work on the project the mechanical and electric components of the system were completed, while the software development and integration with exterior robotic systems will be left up to future work.