UNITV Main Technical Achievements M30

Shape memory polymer composites for grabbing devices (UNITV)

The Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Rome Tor Vergata has produced the first lab-scale prototype of a smart grabbing device with shape memory polymer composites (SMPC) and integrated heating system. This device is obtained by assembling SMPC “fingers” to form the grabbing hand. Compression molding was used to manufacture carbon fiber laminates with interposed shape memory layer. The proposed architecture of the finger allows producing functional modular structures with different operational configurations. External power supply devices were used to provide the required voltage (22 V) to heat the device for both memory and recovery phase of the grabbing devices. Different tests were performed on flat objects (PCB) to show the grabbing ability and good results were achieved. Next steps will be to scale up the size of the grabbing device and to automate the memory stage of composite assembly. The use of consolidated manufacturing technologies and the interesting properties of the SMPCs are the driving forces for their diffusion for “in Space” and “on Earth” applications.

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