Operation of a Controllable Force-sensing Industrial Pneumatic Parallel Gripper System

As part of the advanced programmable logic controllers (PLC) course at Michigan Tech, this class project was performed on a mechatronics system gifted by Donald Engineering, a Michigan-based supplier of industrial automation systems and components. This paper explores the functionality and application of a force-programmable and sensing pneumatic parallel gripper system. Force sensing is a critical part of many systems in modern automation systems. Applications such as prosthetics, robotic surgery, or basic manufacturing systems may rely on the ability to properly read and control forces applied to an object. This work evaluates the basic operation of the pneumatic force-sensing gripper system, through a human machine interface (HMI), and presents two demonstrations using programmable logic controllers to open the door for future customized developments. Different gripper force-time and pressure-time responses are presented to demonstrate the control and visualization of the grippers force