06 / Robotics / Mechatronics2025
Autonomous Robotic Gripper
A gantry-mounted gripper that locates magnets and places markers, built in four weeks by a team of three.
Three people, four weeks, a fully functional prototype at the end of it. The gripper sat on a gantry, detected magnets in the work area, and placed markers where it found them. Constraints were sharp enough that every decision had to buy its weight in assembly time.
“Every sensor you don't add is one you don't have to debug.”
The end-effector was designed in Fusion 360 around a rack-and-pinion actuation paired with a dual-hook geometry. Material optimisation tests walked the print material from PLA to PETG and finally Nylon, cutting friction by around 30%. It took 3rd place for accuracy and speed in the cohort demonstration.