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Lightup Gripper Prototype


acorn

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So I've been working on this project off and on for 5+ years. So long I cannot even remember the exact start date. I decided last month to do a push to at least get the prototype to a usable test condition for some personal closure at the very least whether or not I continued on with the project. Anyway got I got the first real working complete prototype to a usable state over the weekend. I shot a quick video here at work to show what it looks like and it working. A bit challenging to do holding the phone in one hand filming while trying to close #3ish level gripper in the other so please don't be too hard on the video production quality. The indicator light comes on when the handles touch and stays on for a bit as the handles are opening. This is on purpose to ensure a judge in competition catches a close that may have been very brief. I likely will continue the project as I like how it came out. Still some new tooling to make to speed up creation as well as want to add and test some minor changes to the firmware for the next revision. Let me know what you think.

- Aaron

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Cool :D maybe there should be a green light!

How does it work?

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Cool :D maybe there should be a green light!

How does it work?

Tested a green light and it was not as visible in daylight conditions. The red was higher contrast so I went with it. It looks orange in the vid, but it is really a nice bright red. I would rather not go into specifics on how it works publicly at this time. Would hate to see a Baraban or other copy in a week after spending 5 years and at least a couple thousand out of pocket in R&D material costs alone not to mention time. I will say it is reasonably high tech though and there are electronics in the handle.

- Aaron

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I forgot that there are snakes like that around!

I love the innovativeness tho!

Things like these tickle my interest.

Gotta love science and inventions!

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Very nice. Seems like a great competition concept Nice machining. Pitch it to someone you think, or would you want to manufacture and sell yourself. Great idea would be for gripsters to send you the gripper of their choice and you could modify them. Maybe some grand goal gripper. Right now my ultimate long term goal gripper is my MM3 replica. I would be proud to be the first customer! The day I light that up will be a day to celebrate.

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I forgot that there are snakes like that around!

I love the innovativeness tho!

Things like these tickle my interest.

Gotta love science and inventions!

Yeah, I almost didn't put this up for this reason. But I'm just so excited about a working prototype that I couldn't help myself. I love the process of inventing for sure and this project had me learning a lot of new areas of expertise to make it happen.

- Aaron

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After talking with you about this it's great to see it in action.

This is the perfect kind of a thing for a Kickstarter.

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Very nice. Seems like a great competition concept Nice machining. Pitch it to someone you think, or would you want to manufacture and sell yourself. Great idea would be for gripsters to send you the gripper of their choice and you could modify them. Maybe some grand goal gripper. Right now my ultimate long term goal gripper is my MM3 replica. I would be proud to be the first customer! The day I light that up will be a day to celebrate.

Thanks, I would probably build them myself. I did all the work on this one including the machining at home. I was a machinist in a previous career and have a lathe, etc at home. Electronics were breadboarded at home, boards designed, fabbed, etc.. I used to mod the Beefbuilders to be adjustable mount for guys for a few years until time constraints made me have to give that up. This one in the vid as seen is an adjustable mount grand master that has been modded in addition to light up related stuff.

- Aaron

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After talking with you about this it's great to see it in action.

This is the perfect kind of a thing for a Kickstarter.

Have thought about that briefly but don't know anything about Kickstarter process. Will have to investigate. The project may be way too niche as well for all I know.

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That's just too cool! Put me on the waiting list for one :sorcerer:

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After talking with you about this it's great to see it in action.

This is the perfect kind of a thing for a Kickstarter.

Have thought about that briefly but don't know anything about Kickstarter process. Will have to investigate. The project may be way too niche as well for all I know.

I would seriously look into it. I think with some added tooling for your shop you could really increase the speed in which they could be made and simplify the process a lot. Maybe you could throw up a poll here to see how many people would be willing to spend money on it and if so how much would they be willing to spend. I think it's highly marketable.

Edited by Oldrustystuff
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This is amazing. Will make certing easier to judge and competitions!

Get all the legal stuff sorted out so your idea can't be copied by snakes, as you deserve this after all your hard work!

Well done!

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Adjustable mount? huh? I'd love to hear exactly how you did this, a series of holes in the handle maybe to re-pin as you get stronger? Fantastic.

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Glad to see this project come to fruition - it's been a long time since you and I talked about this one - not that judging has been a problem but this is certainly better!

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Glad to see this project come to fruition - it's been a long time since you and I talked about this one - not that judging has been a problem but this is certainly better!

Thanks Chris, definitely a long time.

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I got a chance to check this out on Sunday and close it a few times. The design is amazingly clean, and the function is amazing as well. There is no more guessing as to whether you closed the gripper or not. I think it would be valuable in contests *and* training as there is no more guessing as to whether you closed that challenge gripper you've been after or not.

In competitions, an adjustable gripper, coupled with Aaron's method of RGC, could also be used to do a rising bar format that would be interesting with this lighting system. It essentially eliminates any question about the variation of sweep vs the final closing force from gripper to gripper.

I have one of Aaron's adjustable mount grippers and regularly use it as my 'reps' gripper since it provides a great way to incrementally increase the closing force. If you ever have a chance to meet Aaron in person in Tucson, I highly recommend it. He has equipment prototypes, designs, & ideas for grip training that are years ahead of any of the current equipment providers. There's no exaggeration in that last statement.

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