pic: 121 Manipulator Prototype

[=Martin=Taylor=]

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.

As for belts, I highly recommend neoprene belts from mcmaster carr. They have incredible traction.

I machined our own pulleys out of nylon (18 hrs. of machining w00t w00t!)

[Matt Gardner]

I'm fairly sure I've seen a video of this manipulator in action somewhere, and all I can say is AWESOME. Killer design, it should work great. (And if this is just a prototype, I'd hate to see the real one)

[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.