Design of An Adaptive Mini Gripper for Climbing Robots

Kaiwen Xue, Huihuan Qian, Zhenglong Sun

Abstract: In this paper, a new mechanical design of adaptive mini gripper has been proposed. This mini gripper is able to attach itself on a wide range of trees with different diameters and even some rough surfaces with bumps and asperities, due to its adaptive structure. Worm gear design enables its self-lock capbility when attaching itself to a surface, preventing it from falling down. Besides, self-lock property of worm gear also contributes to the energy saving ability. Furthermore the motion of the gripper is all active, which also improves the stability of the gripper. The structure is of $55 \mathrm {m}\mathrm {m}^{*} 55 \mathrm {m}\mathrm {m}^{*} 47\mathrm {m}\mathrm {m}$ in size, which is also an advantage to the wide use of this gripper. What's more, this adaptive mini gripper weighs 79 grams, but it can hold 1700 grams in weight, more than 21.5 times of its own weight. In addition, the miniaturization work of the gripper contributes to mini size of climbing robots, and more work and practical use can be done with a much smaller size.