News

Sixi Robot Gripper Design Adventures

I thought that the hard part would be making the Six robot arm. Turns out making a two finger gripper is also pretty challenging! I would love to see students take on this challenge to make their own gripper. There’s so many ways to tackle the challenge.

Gripper requirements

The gripper must:

  • Attach to the ISO 9409-50-1-M6 hand
  • Have two fingers
  • Weigh under 1kg
  • Be able to pick up at least 1kg and turn it arbitrarily without dropping it
  • Not crush soft objects like grapes, eggs, or empty cans
  • Have a minimum stroke (movement distance) of 30mm.
  • Run at 12v (max 2a) for motor power.
  • Run at 5v (max 500ma) for logic.
  • Have replaceable fingers that can be customized to different tasks

It would be nice if

  • The gripper would use ModBus (RS485) to communicate with the Sixi robot.
  • The gripping strength could be controlled by the robot.
  • The robot could tell the state of the gripper: position, activity right now, etc.

More to follow as this adventure unfolds! Wish us luck.

Discuss this post in the forums.