Three Claw Grabber
Maker
Intro
Quote from Thingiverse page "The Mark VI Fin Gripper - Black Ram Hand. This hand was designed to use the The Fin Ray Effect giving the wearer the ability to pick up soft or odd shaped items not able to be grasped by rigid claws or fingers."
Out of a desire to make a practical demonstration piece. Jason began working on printing and assembling the 3 claw fin gripper.
Step 1: All stl files were downloaded from Thingiverse as were the instructions. Using Prusa slicer they were prepared for printing.
Step 2: Printing commenced and took several days. The bolts didn't all print successfully so a second batch had to be done. As well some parts were printed that were not needed(there is a two claw version which uses a different hinge) so further printing was needed.
Step 3: Assembly! 2 issues came up right away. First some of the bolts broke as they were screwed in. Second the fin/claw parts did not fit into the hinge pieces(and wouldn't as they were printed out of PLA filament rather then TPU(flexible) Filament) some redesign was needed.
Step 4: Using Tinkercad(online computer aided design tool for 3d printing/3d modeling) the STL files for the "fin" and "hinge" were combined into one "object" that could then be printed. This printing was then completed and final assembly begun.
Step 5: With final assembly of the 3d printed components completed straps were then made using leather, buckles and waxed thread.
Status
Project completed and tested.
Urge to build entire exoskeleton suit has intensified.
Considerations
The whole project was printed at .3 draft resolution which likely resulted in some of the "roughness" of the finished product. Next attempt will be done at .2 quality for better precision. some sanding will likely need to be done next time as well on parts that need to move together for a smoother movement. The difficulty in printing with flexible filament meant that some adjustments had to be made for printing the whole thing in PLA, the main adjustment will have to be in how the fins grip objects.
Next step
1.Pad the hand strap for comfort. 2.Attach rubber "grips" to the inside of the fins for grip