SMAC have introduced the GRP 17, which has been developed to provide a compact low profile gripper that provides high performance in a small package size.
The unit has a stroke length of 5mm per jaw and encoder resolution options of 5, 1 or 0.5 micron. The low moving mass, coupled to zero backlash and low hysteresis, provides the user with the capacity to perform very high speed moves within tightly defined performance envelopes. Due to the high degree of accuracy and repeatability, the unit is especially useful for QC measuring while parts are being handled, making it ideal for inline QC inspection.
Each jaw is independently controlled, enabling complex operations to be performed with ease. A great deal of research had been required to provide a package size of only 17mm x 55mm x 70mm, but equally it was crucial that this did not compromise the performance. The GRP17 is capable of exerting a peak force of 500g per jaw, despite the total mass being only 250g.
It can be controlled using either SMAC’s range of single and dual axis controllers, or any other proprietary servo controller. As an alternative, their Smart Driver is capable of converting stepper signals into servo movement wherever a stepper driven system is provided. The closed loop nature of the system ensures that the position of each jaw is known at all times. Force, velocity and acceleration can all be programmed and monitored, so that the movement profile can be closely controlled and procedures such as a “soft land” are easily configured.