Design and Simulation of an End Effector for a Wheel Handling Manipulator

Background: As the realization of the flexibility of the wheel handling manipulator, the key technical problem that needs to be overcome is the design of a flexible end effector. Objective: The purpose of this study is to design a flexible manipulator end effector to complete the handling of wheels of different sizes on the flexible production line of wheels. Methods: According to the size range and mass range of the wheel to be grasped, the preliminary design plan of the cylinder drive and the gripping wheel hub is determined. Afterwards, the end effector is subjected to a force analysis. The safety, stability and rationality of the design structure is tested through simulation. Results: The simulation results indicate that the strength of the key parts of the end effector fully meets the design requirements. Strength check provides a basis for institutional optimization. Conclusion: This paper completes the design of the end effector of the flexible manipulator. The size diversity of the wheel requires the end effector to have better flexibility. For further development, the structure of the clamping device and the force control device should be further studied. In this article, patents have been discussed.