Designed a Doorknob Gripper

Today, I designed the parts to adapt a parallel plate gripper we had laying around to be able to grip doorknobs. I had to design a new coupling/adapter to attach it to the IRB-120’s flange (see below) and I made new jaw extensions for the gripper itself.

The gripper, as it is now, has very small 1”x1.25” jaws. I am adding 2” square paddle-like jaws to the existing jaws and coated the inside of the jaw with roughtop conveyor belt material for a high-friction, slightly conformal grip. When open, the gripper has a 2.75” opening and when fully closed, has slightly larger than a 2” opening. This is smaller than the doorknob of room 210, which has a diameter of about 2.75”. Because the gripper is narrower than the doorknob, the conveyor belt material will compress and the pneumatic piston that actuates the gripper will act as a gas spring, gripping the doorknob tightly.

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