Build a manufacturable hydraulic claw capable of picking up objects and placing them on an elevated surface, using medical syringes as actuators to keep the design accessible in a high school setting.
AssembliesAutoCADDesign for Manufacture (DFM)MechanismsOnshape
Sole engineer
Apr 2022 - May 2022
Successfully picked up and relocated objects up to 600g repeatedly using syringe-driven hydraulic actuation. First hands-on exposure to McMaster-Carr, Design for Assembly, and laser cutting. Identified syringe pressure loss as a key limitation under load.
A hydraulic claw built from scratch using only syringes, laser-cut acrylic, and 3D printed components. Designing around medical-grade syringes as the sole actuation mechanism forced some constraints: every bracket, linkage, and pivot point had to be lightweight enough that the mediocre and hot-glued hydraulic force could actually move the thing, while still being rigid enough not to flex under load. That meant learning the hard way where stress concentrates in a part, how fillets and chamfers change failure modes, and how leverage ratios determine whether gripper strength. The geometry of the claw fingers was iterated specifically to maximize mechanical advantage at the syringe's limited pressure output.
A hydraulic claw built from scratch using only syringes, laser-cut acrylic, and 3D printed components. Designing around medical-grade syringes as the sole actuation mechanism forced some constraints: every bracket, linkage, and pivot point had to be lightweight enough that the mediocre and hot-glued hydraulic force could actually move the thing, while still being rigid enough not to flex under load. That meant learning the hard way where stress concentrates in a part, how fillets and chamfers change failure modes, and how leverage ratios determine whether gripper strength. The geometry of the claw fingers was iterated specifically to maximize mechanical advantage at the syringe's limited pressure output.
