ELECTROIMPACT ROBOT END EFFECTOR

THE LOW PAYLOAD CAPACITY OF INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS, TYPICALLY UNDER 50 KG, HAS LIMITED THEIR USEFULNESS. A POTENTIAL SOLUTION TO THIS LIMITATION IS THE ELECTROIMPACT TOOL. POWERED BY CAPACITOR DISCHARGE A SMALL ELECTROIMPACT TOOL HAS RELIABLY GENERATED FORCE PULSES OF 80 KNT. THE ELECTROIMPACT TOOL IS A REFINEMENT OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC RIVETER, A HAND HELD DEVICE DEVELOPED IN THE EARLY 1970'S CAPABLE OF FORMING 1 CM DIAMETER AIRCRAFT RIVETS IN ONE "SHOT". THE NARROW OUTPUT PULSE PERMITS THE TRANSFER OF MOMENTUM TO A RECOIL MASS WHICH IS SLOWLY DECELERATED, RESULTING IN ONLY A MINIMUM RECOIL FORCE. IN THE COURSE OF UNIVERSITY RESEARCH A MAGNETODYNAMIC MODEL WAS DEVELOPED WHICH SUGGESTED THAT AN INEXPENSIVE, COMPACT AND VERSATILE VERSION OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC RIVETER USING MODERN ENERGY STORAGE CAPACITORS AND POWER ELECTRONICS COULD BE IMPLEMENTED. IN THE COURSE OF RESEARCH WORK THE SYSTEM WAS DEMONSTRATED TO BE AN EFFECTIVE DEVICE FOR FORMING RIVETS IN A FASHION FAVORABLE TO THE RIVET METALLURGY, THE ORIGINAL PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH. IN THE PROPOSED PROGRAM THIS MODELING TECHNIQUE WILL BE DEVELOPED TO PREDICT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TECHNOLOGY IN CONJUNCTION WITH A ROBOT GRIPPER. A DATA BASE WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR THE MODEL BY BUILDING A PROTOTYPE ELECTROIMPACT END EFFECTOR AND TESTING THE DEVICE ON THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON'S AUTOMATIX ROBOT.