Design and implement of a manipulator end-effector with parallel pneumatic grippers and vision positioning

This paper proposes the development of a manipulator end-effector with three parallel pneumatic grippers used for the electric energy meter detection. Two flexible jaws are added to each gripper to assist for the correct and stable release of the object. We employ barcode scanner for reading the meter box and electric energy meter information and camera for positioning. The manipulator positioning error has been analyzed through experiment with the camera installed on the end-effector, and the other errors can also be compensated with vision positioning. We build the end-effector and assemble it on a 6-DOF manipulator to grasp and release the electric energy meters, which has been put into use in factory.