Assessment for CO2-reduced Production by using Additively Manufactured Lightweight Robot Grippers

The additive manufacturing (AM) technology Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) and topology optimization (TO) for the manufacturing of robot grippers shows high potential regarding material efficiency and weight reduction, leading to CO2-emission reduction. For conventional series production, steel or aluminium gripper elements are machined by milling, drilling, and turning. In determining the ecological efficiency of a circular economy concept with topologically optimized additive manufactured gripper, a CO2 assessment is presented considering the cycles of raw material, production, usage, and reuse or recycling of the gripper. The CO2-emissions of both a conventionally designed and a lightweight gripper with application of TO and FFF is compared within this assessment.