pic: 121 Manipulator Prototype

[TD78]

Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII

Have you thought about how you are going to confront the issue of side-load on the belts?

We have run extensive tests on this type of system, and have determined that side-loads generated from twisting the tubes can easily dislodge the belts.[/size]

The latest episode of American Robot (see my post above) has the gripper in action. One polycord was a bit bigger than the others, so it rolled off once or twice. We always cut an extra inch off the polycord before bonding it together...generally give a tighter fit.

The next design iteration is going to have shorter jaws anyways, and might have double pulleys...so in the rare event one does fall off, there will be back-ups.