Hybrid Gripper and Fixtureless Production: Design and Manufacturing Review

This study presents an overview of the hybrid gripper concept, highlighting its functionality, benefits, and potential applications. A hybrid gripper combines the gripping capabilities of traditional grippers with a fixture-like quality of dedicated fixtures. Hybrid production systems utilize advanced technologies and a methodology to enable rapid reconfiguration and adaptation of production lines. This method is active docking system. The system provides a secure locking mechanism between the robot and the gripper. In this way, the gripper is separated from the robot and placed on a table and another function, namely fixation, is achieved. Additionally, a hybrid gripper offers improved workpiece stability and precision during the manufacturing processes. By integrating fixture-like elements, such as locators or clamping mechanisms, the hybrid gripper ensures accurate positioning and alignment of the workpiece. This improves the ability to repeat the process, reduces errors, and improves overall product quality. The adoption of hybrid grippers can benefit various industries, including automotive, aerospace, electronics, and assembly. Hybrid grippers enable manufacturers to streamline their production processes, reduce setup times, and enhance productivity while maintaining high levels of accuracy and repeatability. In conclusion, the hybrid apparatus reduced setup time by approximately 35%, as gripping and fixing functions were performed in a single step during the manufacturing process. Thanks to both the gripper and fixture feature, cost savings were achieved, and production efficiency was increased. Since a single holder is used, processing time and error time are minimized for different features.