June 22:
For this project, I wanted to make an underwater-capable robotic gripper with a wrist. so it can grab, and spin. I didnt want to build a full arm since I thought it would be too heavy and power-intense. I looked at the companies I knew alreay made robotic arms for UROV's for reasearch (Bluerobotics and Reach Robotics) and looked at their manuals and given information for inpiration. Reach Robotics uses linear actuators to push a rod in the center of the arm to move the jaws open and closed, and bluerobotics uses a DC motor to essentially do the same thing. However another option I didnt see is servos. So I decided to 3d-model these 3 options to visualize which one would best fit my needs (ease to waterproof, reliability, and torque). I spent a plane ride doing this.
Reach Robotics:
Underwater Robotics:
** Total time spent: 4 Hours 20 minutes **
June 23:
I researched the best waterproof linear actuators in this case, including ones where the rod is sealed off from the body (magnetic) but I landed on a non magnetic 1-inch one since I couldnt find prices for the magnetic ones, and the non-magnetic one seemed more reliable and much cheaper.
** Total time spent: 2 Hours 12 minutes **
June 24:
I fully cadded each design with joints and constraints to fully visualize how they would work. I downloaded models for the dc motor and the actuator to see the size of each type of the claw. The linear actuator one seemed very weak with its arms but I get I can just use the design from the motor, just wanted to try something different. Im almost sure im going to go with the Servo since they are avalible pre waterproofed from Reefs RC and they look better with torque. And seem easier to build than a linear actuator or dc motor one. OFC I wont use a Reefs RC servo motor in my build since there crazy expensive.
Servo:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/db70f444-bbe8-4d0c-a8f8-400415a296f0
Linear Actuator:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/461c43a5-6b42-4d69-9eb9-27e4118e61ce
DC Motor:
** Total time spent: 6 Hours 20 minutes **