Gripper with Larger Flat Ends

pinshape

This is my remix of the outstanding Mantis Gripper by 4ndreas located here - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing/. My goal was to automate the tiresome task of testing cash dispensers at work using scraps and readily available parts. Video here: https://youtu.be/ED8kZkMuPWg. I needed a larger flat gripping surface than the original Gripper, so I modified both the large and small grippers. I used everything else from the original Mantis design. I added screw-on sensor brackets to the ends of the two grippers to house an infrared emitter/sensor combo. A stand was designed so I could attach the gripper to a motorized slide base. There are various motor mounts, sensor mounts, belt grips and other components that I designed. The gripper itself is controlled by an Arduino board, while the moving slide it's mounted on is powered by an Adafruit Motor Shield. The purpose of the assembly is to sense when bills are inserted into the open gripper. It closes the gripper, moves the gripper rearward on a track and then opens the gripper to drop the bills into a bin below. A running bill counter is incremented, and it then moves forward until it hits the limit switch to wait for more bills. This process repeats continuously. This takes the place of a technician having to sit and perform this task for 30 minutes at a time. Update 8/10/17 - The first gripper was so well received that the technicians commissioned another one. I printed it entirely in "Watermelon" PETG from MakerGeeks. See photo. The rubber is holding up exceptionally well; no signs of wear are evident, and we're using it daily. Update 5/13/18 - Both grippers have been used daily in a production environment for nearly a year with zero downtime. No wear is visible on the claw. I anticipated that the servo or plastic would fail and require replacement but 4ndreas' design has proven to be very robust.