Actuators and Grippers 69

at power levels under about 1.5 kW unless there is danger due to possible ignition
of explosive materials. At ranges between 1-5 kW, the availability of a robot in
a particular coordinate system with specific characteristics or at a lower cost
may determine the decision. Reliability of all types of robots made by reputable
manufacturers is sufficiently good that this is not a major determining factor.

Example 3.5 Selection of a Motor

Simple mathematical calculations are needed to determine the torque, velocity, and
power characteristics of an actuator or a motor for different applications. Torque is
defined in terms of force times distance or moment. A force, f, at distance, a, from the
center of rotation has a moment or torque, t, i.e., t = fa. In general terms, power, P,
transmitted in a drive shaft is determined by the torque, t, multiplied by the angular
velocity, w. Power P is expressed as, P =t w. For an example, a calculation can tell
one what kilowatt or horsepower is required in a motor used to drive a 2-meter robot
arm lifting a 25 kg mass at 10 rpm. If the mass of the arm is assumed zero then, P =
(25 ¥ 9.81 ¥ 2) ¥ (2p ¥ 10/60) = 0.513 kW. The use of simple equations of this type
is often sufficient to make a useful approximation of a needed value. More detailed
calculations can take place using the equations of statics and dynamics that apply.

3.5 GRIPPERS
Grippers are end-effectors, as introduced in Section 2.1.1, which are used to grasp
an object or a tool, e.g., a grinder, and hold it. Tasks required by the grippers are
to hold workpieces and load/unload from/to a machine or conveyer. Grippers can
be mechanical in nature using a combination of mechanisms driven by electric,
hydraulic, or pneumatic powers, as explained in earlier sections. Grippers can be
classified based on the principle of grasping mechanism. For example, grippers can
hold with the help of suction cups, magnets, or by other means. A gripper is then
accordingly referred to as pneumatic gripper, magnetic gripper, etc. Another way to
classify a gripper is based on how it holds an object, i.e., based on grasping the object
on its exterior (external gripper) or interior (internal gripper) surface.
3.5.1 Mechanical Grippers
As shown in Fig. 2.4(a), mechanical grippers have their jaw movements through
pivoting or translational motion using a transmission element, e.g., linkages or gears,
etc. This is illustrated in Fig. 3.27. The gripper can be of single or double type.
While the former has only one gripping device at the robot’s wrist, the latter type has
two. The double grippers can be actuated independently and are especially useful in
machine loading and unloading. As illustrated in Groover et al. (2012), suppose a
particular job calls for a raw part to be loaded from a conveyor onto a machine and
the finished part to be unloaded onto another conveyor. With a single gripper, the
robot would have to unload the finished part before picking up the raw part. This
would consume valuable time in the production cycle because the machine would
remain idle during these handling motions. With a double gripper, the robot can pick
up the part from the incoming conveyor with one of its gripping devices and have
it ready to exchange for the finished part on the machine. When the machine cycle
is completed, the robot can reach in for the finished part with the available grasping
 70 Introduction to Robotics

device, and insert the raw part into the machine with the other grasping device. The
amount of time spent in exchanging the parts or the time to keep the machine idle is
minimized.
A gripper uses its fingers or jaws to hold an object, as illustrated in Fig. 3.28.
The function of a gripper mechanism is to translate some form of power input, be it
electric, hydraulic or pneumatic, into the grasping action of the fingers against the
part. Note that there are two ways a gripper can hold an object, i.e., either by physical
constriction as shown in Fig. 3.28(a) or by friction, as demonstrated in Fig. 3.38(b).
In the former case, contacting surfaces of the fingers are made of approximately
the same shape of the part geometry, while in the latter case the fingers must apply
sufficient force to retain the part against gravity or accelerations. The friction method
of holding a part is less complex and hence less expensive. However, they have to be
designed properly with its surfaces having sufficient coefficient of friction so that the
parts do not slip during motion. Example 3.6 illustrates the situation.

Rotational
Drive or Gripper
system Transmission
Pivoting or motion
Linear Linkages, gears, translational
Electric, hydraulic,
cams, cables, etc.
pneumatic

Fig. 3.27 Motion of a mechanical gripper

Example 3.6 Friction-based Gripper

Consider the weight w of an object to be carried by a parallel-fingered gripper shown
in Fig. 3.28(b). Gripper force can be calculated using the following force balance:
mnf = w (3.5a)
where m is the coefficient of friction of the object and finger surfaces, whereas n,
f, and w are the number of contacting surfaces, finger forces, and the weight of the
object to be held by the gripper. If w = 140 kg, n = 2, and μ = 0.2, f is computed
simply as
140 ¥ 9.81
f= @ 3500 N (3.5b)
2 ¥ 0.2
Note that the value of 9.81 m/s2 is the value of g, i.e., acceleration due to gravity.

Fig. 3.28 Fingers gripping objects

 Actuators and Grippers 71

Example 3.7 Gripper Accelerating with an Object

Assume the object of Example 3.6 is to be lifted up with an acceleration of 10 m/s2.
The gripper will require almost twice the force as the acceleration to be experienced
by it is (9.81 + 10) = 19.81 @ 2g. Rest of the calculation is same as in equation
(3.5a-b).
Note that the motion of the fingers in mechanical grippers is obtained by means
of any of the following transmission elements: (i) Linkage; (ii) Gear and rack;
(iii) Cam; (iv) Screw; and (v) Cable and pulley, etc. Figure 3.29 shows some of
these arrangements, where the transmission elements are either driven by an electric
motor or a hydraulic/ pneumatic actuator. The final gripping action of the fingers is,
however, achieved by one of the following means:
1. Pivoting Movement In this arrangement, the fingers rotate about fixed pivot
points on the gripper to open and close. This is indicated in Fig. 3.29(a). The motion
is usually achieved by some kind of linkage mechanism.
2. Translational Movement In the translational or linear motion, the fingers
open and close by moving parallel to each other, as shown in Fig. 3.29 (b-d).
It is interesting to note that in the literature, e.g., in Groover et al. (2012), Deb
and Deb (2010), and others, the mechanical grippers were classified as per either the
transmission elements used or the type of finger movements, besides the input power,
i.e., electric or pneumatic. For example, cam-operated gripper or pivoting gripper,
etc. In the true sense, they should fall in the specifications of a mechanical gripper.
Moreover, mechanical grippers with more fingers are also in use in industries, e.g.,
to hold spherical objects. One such robotic gripper, namely, a three-fingered hand, is
shown in Fig. 2.4(b).
3.5.2 Magnetic Grippers
Unlike mechanical grippers, the principle of a magnetic gripper is based on the
magnetic property of a gripper. Hence, they can be used only for ferrous objects.
They have the following advantages:
∑ Variations in object sizes can be tolerated.
∑ Operations are very fast.
∑ Require only one surface to hold an object.
The disadvantages with magnetic grippers are, however, the difficulty to pick thin
sheets one at a time because the magnetic force penetrates through more than one
sheet. As a result, more than one sheet is picked up. To overcome such disadvantages,
one needs to take care during the design stage itself either by limiting the magnetic
force by the gripper or by introducing some means (mechanical or otherwise) not to
allow more than one sheet to be picked up.
Magnetic grippers can have either (i) permanent magnets, or (ii) electromagnets.
While electromagnetic grippers are easy to control requiring only a dc power source,
grippers with permanent magnets do not require any external power source to operate
the magnets. Besides, no electric sparks in handling hazardous materials. They,
however, require an external stripping mechanism during the release of the object.
One such mechanism is illustrated in Fig. 3.30.
 72
Introduction to Robotics

Fig. 3.29 Pivoting and translating mechanical grippers

[Courtesy: http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/90/35274061/3527406190.pdf ]
 Actuators and Grippers 73

Fig. 3.30 Stripping of a sheet from a magnetic gripper

3.5.3 Vacuum Grippers

Such grippers are suitable to handle large flat objects. The material of an object
is of no concern with vacuum gripers, except that the object’s surface should not
have any holes. An example of vacuum gripper which uses suction cups made of
elastic materials is shown in Fig. 3.31. For a vacuum gripper, lifting capacity can be
determined from the negative pressure and the effective area of the cups as
f = pA (3.6)
where f is the force or lift capacity, p is the negative pressure, and A is the total
effective area of the suction cups.

Gripper

Vacuum cup
Object

Fig. 3.31 Vacuum gripper

Example 3.8 Lifting Capacity

Consider lifting of four steel plates, each piece is 6 mm thick and measures 6 m ¥ 10 m.
The weight of the four steel plates is given by
w = 4 ¥ (0.006 ¥ 6 ¥ 10) ¥ 7800 ¥ 9.81 = 110187.12 N
where 7800 kg/m3 is the mass density of the steel plates, whereas 9.81 m/s2 is the
acceleration due to gravity. Assuming the diameter of vacuum cups as 100 mm, the
required negative pressure can be obtained from Eq. (3.6) as
 74 Introduction to Robotics

110187.12
p= = 175.35 N/m 2 (3.7)
2 ¥ p ¥ (0.1)2

3.5.4 Adhesive Grippers

An adhesive substance used for a grasping action can be used to handle fabrics and
other lightweight materials. One of the limitations is that the adhesive substance
loses its effectiveness with repeated use. Hence, it has to be continuously fed like a
mechanical typewriter’s ribbon which needs to be attached to the robot’s wrist.
3.5.5 Hooks, Scoops, and Others
There exist other types of gripping devices, e.g.,
hooks, scoops or ladles, inflatable devices, etc.,
based on the need of item to be handled. For
example, Fig. 3.32 shows one of these devices.
3.5.6 Selection of Grippers
Some of the criteria to be used in selecting an
appropriate gripper are highlighted below:
∑ One needs to decide the drive system. In fact,
in an industrial scenario where electric and
pneumatic power sources are easily available,
one needs to decide the type. If fast but not
so accurate motion is desired then pneumatic
should be preferred. Otherwise, one can go Fig. 3.32 Expandable bladder
for electric. For heavy objects, certainly to grip objects with
one must prefer hydraulic, as pointed in holes from inside
Section 3.2.
∑ Object or the part surface to be gripped must be reachable by a gripper.
∑ The size variation should be kept in mind. For example, a cast object may be
difficult to put in a machine chuck.
∑ The gripper should tolerate some dimension change. For example, before and
after machining a workpiece, their sizes change.
∑ Quality of surface area must be kept in mind. For example, a mechanical gripper
may damage the surface area of an object.
∑ Force should be sufficient to hold an object and should not fly away while
moving with certain accelerations. Accordingly, the materials on the surfaces of
the fingers should be chosen.

SUMMARY
A robot is moved by actuators. Different forms of actuators, namely, electric, hydraulic
and pneumatic types are explained. For electric motors, their typical specifications and
speed-torque characteristics are presented. How to select a suitable motor is also outlined.
Besides, grippers used to hold an object in order to transfer it to a new location are
explained. Important aspects to select an appropriate gripper are also highlighted.