Robot Gripper Actuator Calculator

How the direct parallel-jaw gripper works

One actuator drives one jaw against an opposing jaw. With two identical friction contacts, each normal force must be at least payload weight divided by twice the grip coefficient. The tool adds measured drive resistance, design factor and losses. Grip coefficient must come from the actual jaw and workpiece materials. No toggle or wedge multiplication is assumed.

Measurements for this application

Measure jaw travel and retracted actuator space. Enter the vertically held payload and measured jaw/workpiece friction coefficient.

• Record required movement, guide angle above horizontal, load offset from guide center, maximum retracted pin space, maximum working pin space. Measure between pivot or mounting-pin centers.
• Account for payload / supported load, moving jaw / slider weight, guide friction coefficient, additional axial drive resistance. Use the heaviest permitted operating condition.
• Enter the actual motion limits and check the mechanism at both ends and through the full path.

Choosing an actuator for direct parallel-jaw gripper

The calculator checks the required force, stroke and mounting length before displaying variants. Super Duty actuators take priority, followed by Utility and C-Series where their dimensions and ratings fit. Industrial actuators take priority above 450 lbf of moving load or required actuator force; feedback Micro Pen actuators take priority for the humanoid finger.

Compare exact variants, set travel limits for any unused stroke, and verify the controller, duty cycle, environment and mounting details. Save the design or download its engineering brief to keep your measurements and results together.

What does this calculator solve?

Direct parallel-jaw gripper is solved along the entered start-to-end path. The animation follows those measurements and the force plot shows the demand through the move. The stated model assumptions define which parts of the real mechanism are included.