BigMouth: A Simple Item Grabber for the XRP Plateform

This is an actuator for the XRP platform that allows to take and move objects on the floor, and adds a lot of personality to the robot.

This model was designed to be used in robotic competitions, such as the FIRST robotic competition, where simple and robust solutions are a necessity. This model allows to take elements such as balls or cylinders and move them around, using a simple yet robust open/close gate mechanism. The actuator uses a single servo and has space to place Qwiic sensors to detect if objects are present. No precise placement is needed, just move forward until an object is detected, close the mouth and voila, element is taken. Fully compatible with the XRP kit, with no additional hardware required.

It is important to compete with style, reason why five variants of mouths were designed with different types of teeths (round, sharp, vampire, square and unitooth), giving the XRP more personality options. Googly eyes were also designed to improve the look even further (they rotate so it is possible to make it look as goofy as you like). A model for a cupcake, with the right size for the sensor to detect it, is also included, so a robotic competition can be based on the XRP kit and this project alone.

This model might enter in conflict with the ultrasound+line detection sensor mount for large objects. While solutions for the ultrasound module are provided on Printables, I did not find the dimensions of the line following PCB, so euh…. the exercise of adding the line detection sensor is left to the reader. 

Printing and Assembly.

Usual printing parameters with your filament of choice will be just fine. The jaw and cupcake can take advantage of a color change mid print (no need for a MMU). The eyes are print in place and can also benefit from 2 color changes.

For assembly, see assembly manual available in the download section.

The source files are available for download on onshape. See assembly manual for link.