APPréCIE: A Computer Package for the Simulation and Design of Mechanical Grippers

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a simulation package developed for the computer-aided design of simple mechanical grippers. The program includes a relatively large database of gripper architectures which can be accessed interactively by the designer. The kinematic analysis of each of the generic architectures has been performed symbolically at the programming stage and explicit expressions of the input-output equations as well as the velocity relationships have been coded. This provides an accurate and fast interactive response. The kinematic dexterity and the gripping index can be plotted and are updated automatically when dimensional changes are made. Finally, a graphic animation of the grippers is available. An example is given here to illustrate the application of the design package to a practical problem. This CAD tool could be of great help in the context of the design of mechanical grippers which is one of the key challenges in advanced robotic applications.