The mechatronics capstone was a group project which occurred during the last two-quarters of undergrad. We researched, designed, and developed a variable impedance robotic gripper. From the two quarters, I improved in communication, understand how variable impedance works, and developing my mechatronics skills especially in circuit design. 

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• Found that sealed air cylinders are able to vary its stiffness depending on the pressure within the cylinders

• The robotic gripper was designed so the cylinders will increase pressure, therefore increasing the stiffness at the fingers.

 

The manufacturing of the gripper was done using:

• 3D printers - high variability in designs for relatively low time consumption.

• laser cutters - used on acrylic pieces

• lathes and mill - cut support columns

 

How gripper behaves

• At rest, the fingers had low stiffness and the fingers were easy to displace

• At high force, the finger stiffness increased and the fingers were tougher to displace

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Below are videos and images highlighting the capstone experience. The capstone brought together all the skills we acquired from the prior courses such as Automatic Control, Instrumentation & Sensors, and Embedded Computing