Bradley Johnson,
Jesse McFall,
Logan Schorr
Virginia Commonwealth University
Adviser: Ravi Hadimani
Adaptive High-Temperature End Effector
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Additive manufacturing (3D printing) can produce everything from artificial body parts to full-sized houses. The Adaptive High-Temperature End Effector is designed to help reduce production time, enable mass production and lower costs for small-batch production of specialty items. Using a robotic arm equipped with an end effector that functions like tongs, alloy steel grippers and aluminum oxide castable ceramic insulators, this technology also can eliminate risks involved in handling high-temperature metal, supporting new capabilities in additive manufacturing.