Design and optimization of a 3D printed soft gripper for urban farming
Urban farming has been gaining popularity in recent years due to global food sustainability challenges. This solution, however, can be hard to adopt due to it being labor intensive and its associated high manpower costing. Automated harvesting, an alternative solution, has not been explored much due...
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| Muut tekijät: | |
| Aineistotyyppi: | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| Kieli: | English |
| Julkaistu: |
Nanyang Technological University
2022
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| Aiheet: | |
| Linkit: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/158804 |
| _version_ | 1826126657217363968 |
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| author | Tan, Edwyn Bing Liang |
| author2 | Yeong Wai Yee |
| author_facet | Yeong Wai Yee Tan, Edwyn Bing Liang |
| author_sort | Tan, Edwyn Bing Liang |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Urban farming has been gaining popularity in recent years due to global food sustainability challenges. This solution, however, can be hard to adopt due to it being labor intensive and its associated high manpower costing. Automated harvesting, an alternative solution, has not been explored much due to the high cost and technology required. Therefore, the design, development and feasibility of a cost-effective 3D printable gripper which allows automated harvesting of fruits with minimal damage dealt to them will be the objective of the project. 3D printing has the advantage of rapid prototyping and in this project, we adopt the technology to aid in the design phase of the gripper. 3 prototypes’ designs were considered during the design and fabrication phase, after printing the prototypes undergo tests to determine the feasibility of the design. Prototype 1 was designed prior to having much knowledge regarding 3D printing, therefore, the design was not 3D printing friendly. After researching about 3D printing, prototype 2 was redesigned considering the factors of 3D printing such as the material, method of printing, duration of printing, etc. Prototype 2 was printed using polylactic acid material but it cracked during the bending of the fingers leading to a failure. On the other hand, prototype 3 was designed by reconsidering the material used and decided to use flexible materials like thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). Prototype 3 was a success and proceeded through a series of tests to optimize the printing parameters and the final design. The use of 3D printing and TPU material showed promising results as the time required for designing was greatly reduced and TPU material allowed the fingers to be more flexible, serving the purpose as a soft gripper minimizing damage to the fruits that are harvested. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:55:56Z |
| format | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| id | ntu-10356/158804 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:55:56Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Nanyang Technological University |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1588042022-06-07T04:12:37Z Design and optimization of a 3D printed soft gripper for urban farming Tan, Edwyn Bing Liang Yeong Wai Yee School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Singapore Centre for 3D Printing An Jia WYYeong@ntu.edu.sg Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Machine design and construction Urban farming has been gaining popularity in recent years due to global food sustainability challenges. This solution, however, can be hard to adopt due to it being labor intensive and its associated high manpower costing. Automated harvesting, an alternative solution, has not been explored much due to the high cost and technology required. Therefore, the design, development and feasibility of a cost-effective 3D printable gripper which allows automated harvesting of fruits with minimal damage dealt to them will be the objective of the project. 3D printing has the advantage of rapid prototyping and in this project, we adopt the technology to aid in the design phase of the gripper. 3 prototypes’ designs were considered during the design and fabrication phase, after printing the prototypes undergo tests to determine the feasibility of the design. Prototype 1 was designed prior to having much knowledge regarding 3D printing, therefore, the design was not 3D printing friendly. After researching about 3D printing, prototype 2 was redesigned considering the factors of 3D printing such as the material, method of printing, duration of printing, etc. Prototype 2 was printed using polylactic acid material but it cracked during the bending of the fingers leading to a failure. On the other hand, prototype 3 was designed by reconsidering the material used and decided to use flexible materials like thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). Prototype 3 was a success and proceeded through a series of tests to optimize the printing parameters and the final design. The use of 3D printing and TPU material showed promising results as the time required for designing was greatly reduced and TPU material allowed the fingers to be more flexible, serving the purpose as a soft gripper minimizing damage to the fruits that are harvested. Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) 2022-06-07T04:12:36Z 2022-06-07T04:12:36Z 2022 Final Year Project (FYP) Tan, E. B. L. (2022). Design and optimization of a 3D printed soft gripper for urban farming. Final Year Project (FYP), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/158804 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/158804 en A269 application/pdf Nanyang Technological University |
| spellingShingle | Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Machine design and construction Tan, Edwyn Bing Liang Design and optimization of a 3D printed soft gripper for urban farming |
| title | Design and optimization of a 3D printed soft gripper for urban farming |
| title_full | Design and optimization of a 3D printed soft gripper for urban farming |
| title_fullStr | Design and optimization of a 3D printed soft gripper for urban farming |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and optimization of a 3D printed soft gripper for urban farming |
| title_short | Design and optimization of a 3D printed soft gripper for urban farming |
| title_sort | design and optimization of a 3d printed soft gripper for urban farming |
| topic | Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Machine design and construction |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/158804 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tanedwynbingliang designandoptimizationofa3dprintedsoftgripperforurbanfarming |