Design and Analysis of Robotic Microgripper Using ABS and PLA

Abstract

In this study, the design and analysis of the compliance microgripper made up of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) and polylactic acid (PLA) are presented. With the possibilities of making prototypes of the grippers, it is becoming necessary that the prototype should be lightweight and of low cost. The aim of this work is to design a robotic microgripper of compliant structure with materials using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA). ABS and PLA are lightweight, low cost, very stiff and capable of handling jobs of weight higher than that of their own. The gripper is designed and analyzed by the Pro Release 5.0 software. By stress and displacement analysis, it is shown that with the application of the pressure load in the range of MPa (1 to 3 MPa) the displacement of the tip of the microgripper can be obtained in the mm (about 0.3 to 0.5 mm) range. The prototype will be developed using 3D printing technology.