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Introduction

Common purpose utility grabber was designed by our team in the project. This report deals with the
technical analysis of this object grabber with regards to the speed of shaft which extends the length of
object grabber. There are several kinds of grabbers available in the market with distinct lengths, shapes
and features. The common grabbers which are available in the market constitute a stem which is of fixed
length. Grabber is a device which is utilized by the disabled persons to pick the objects, and such designs
which have fixed length become impractical as the objects are not always at predetermined distances.
Therefore, this grabber was designed with a convertible stem with capability to change its length with
three variations. There is an inner shaft in the design which comes out and extends the length.

The process of inner shaft coming out of outer shell in solely based upon the force of gravity. There is no
external mechanical force applied on the shaft to push it to outwards. Grabber is simply pointed down and
pivot is removed from inner shaft by using the lock button and inner shaft moves outward. Below given
is the design of grabber depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Grabber Design

Problem to be Addressed
Grabber will be designed as a convertible design in which inner shaft moves outward to expand the length
of grabber. Such a design requires a force for the inner shaft to come out. There is no external mechanical
force in the design which can be utilized for the purpose. Inner shaft moves to the outside solely based
upon the force of gravity. When the shaft is pointed in downward direction in moves to the ground.
The movement of shaft is not only controlled by the force of gravity. When the shaft moves there are other
factors which influence the movement of shaft to the downward direction. Force of gravity, air resistance
and coefficient of sliding friction are some of the factors which influence the movement of inner shaft
towards the ground. This technical analysis is focused on the effect of coefficient of friction which changes
along with changing the material of inner and outer part of the grabber.

There are two types of material proposed for the grabber, aluminum and plastic (HDPE). When material
change so does the forces of friction between them. Therefore, this analysis was focused on the changing
effect of coefficient of friction which varies along with change of material.

Aim of the Analysis


Whenever two objects move or slide against each other there is friction between them. This friction hinders
the movement as the force of friction is opposite to that of applied force which causes the movement at
first place.

The movement of inner shaft of the grabber depends upon the friction of inner shaft and outer part of the
grabber. The two available materials offer different levels of friction between the parts; therefore, this
analysis is dedicated to find out the optimum materials which has less friction thus favoring the movement
of inner shaft.

Technical analysis of the Shaft


As described in the previous section, this analysis aims to find the optimum material set which offers
minimum friction between the sliding components of the grabber thus enabling easy movement of the
inner shaft of the grabber. To study the effect of friction we must consider the dimensions, material
properties and the forces acting on the components [1].

Following are the technical analysis on the effects of dimensions, material comparison and the forces
causing the movement of inner shaft.

Dimensions
Grabber is designed to pick the objects which will be utilized by the disable person. Grabber is designed
on the principle of convertible design which offer the variable length to assist the person pick objects from
variable distances.
Outer part of the grabber is about 50 cm and inner shaft of grabber is about 30 cm which adds up to total
length of 80 cm. At the end of inner shaft there is grabber teeth which is utilized to pick the objects and
holds them. Below given figure contains the dimensions of the grabber.

Figure 2: Grabber Dimensions

Length extension and contraction is vital for the design success of grabber as the nonconvertible grabber
may be problematic for the objects which are at varying distances. Therefore, this design enables length
variation which is dependent upon the friction of sliding surfaces [2].

Determination of friction
When two surfaces are moved side by side it is known as sliding and the friction caused between such
surfaces is known as the sliding friction. The components of grabber in this design will move such that
introducing the sliding friction between the two walls.

There is linear relationship between the normal force which acts on the object causing its motion and the
force of kinetic friction. The normal force and the kinetic friction force are related to each other by the
coefficient of kinetic friction. This can be formulated as given below;

𝐹(𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐) = µ(𝑘) ∗ 𝐹(𝑁) [3]

Whereas;

𝐹 (𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐) = 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

µ(𝑘) = 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝐹(𝑁) = 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠

Effects of Materials
There are two materials proposed for the design of grabber, aluminum and plastic (HDPE). The friction
force for both of materials will be different as the coefficient of friction for the both materials is distinct.

The normal force on the grabber will be equal to the force of grabber. It can be found as below.
Aluminum Plastic

𝐹 = 𝑚𝑔=W [4] 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑔=W

m= ρ𝑚 XV m= ρ𝑚 XV

𝑾 = (𝟏𝟐𝟎𝟎 ∗ 𝟐. 𝟕) ∗ 𝟗𝟖𝟎= 31.752 N 𝑾 = (𝟏𝟐𝟎𝟎 ∗ 𝟎. 𝟗𝟕) ∗ 𝟗𝟖𝟎= 11.407 N

Below given is the friction force calculation for the both materials.

Aluminum Plastic

µ(𝑘)= 1.40 [5] µ(𝑘)= 0.14 [5]

F(N)=W= 31.752N W= 11.407 N

F(Kinetic)= 1.40*31.752= 44.45 N F(Kinetic)= 0.14*11.407= 1.59 N

The above given calculations depict the friction force for the aluminum and the plastic. It is clear from
above that the friction force for the aluminum is higher than the plastic which means the design with
aluminum material will offer more hinderance to the movement of inner shaft.

Assumptions for the friction


The friction between the sliding surfaces is known as the sliding friction. Effect of the friction is dependent
upon following factors.

 Weight of shaft exerts the normal force which is dependent upon the density and mass of material.
 The friction is dependent upon the coefficient of friction which is distinct for each material.
 Length, width and the height of grabber are assumed to be 80cm, 5cm and 3 cm respectively.

Conclusions
This technical analysis was dedicated to the study of friction which will be controlling the movement of
inner shaft of material. The inner shaft of material will slide against the outer shaft. The movement will
be controlled by the force of gravity, air resistance and the friction force. When we change the materials
of grabber the force of friction also changes. We studied the effect of material on the friction force. It was
evident from the calculation that grabber made by the aluminum offers more friction while the grabber
made by plastic (HDPE) offers less friction.

References

[1] J. B. Keller, "Impact With Friction," ASME. J. Appl. Mech, 186.

[2] Allen, Benjamin, M. Freitas, N. Hunnewell and N. Lee, "The Grab-Bot," Rehabilitation Engineering,
2010.

[3] E. Cox, "What is Friction? - Definition, Formula & Forces," study.com, [Online]. Available:
http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-friction-definition-formula-forces.html. [Accessed 2017].

[4] Hall and Nancy, "Forces of falling objects," NASA, 05 05 2015. [Online]. Available:
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/falling.html. [Accessed 2017].

[5] E. T. Box, "Friction Coefficients for some Common Materials and Materials Combinations,"
Engineering Tool Box, [Online]. Available: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/friction-
coefficients-d_778.html. [Accessed 2017].

[6] C. Butlin and M. Maybank, Physics on the Move, 1996.

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