Internet-Based CAD Tool for Design of Gripper Jaws

Abstract
We describe an Internet-based CAD tool that automatically designs gripper jaws to align a given part from an initial orientation to a desired final orientation. We describe algorithmic improvements in computational efficiency, frictional analysis and form closure analysis. We describe the interface and give examples. We then apply the design tool to identify conditions under which jaw designs exist, leading to an analytic condition for triangular parts that cannot be aligned. The CAD tool is available online at www.ieor.berkeley.edu/~goldberg/sa-gripper/.