Smart Gripper: Design and fabrication of a test bench to model a Shape Memory Alloy beam

Grippers, currently used in Industry, are not suited for clean room application. Thus, a novel type of smart gripper is being designed using Shape Memory Alloys (SMA). In the development of this Smart Gripper, the modelling of the material is quite critical. The aim of this semester project would be to design and fabricate a test bench that is capable of heating, stressing and measuring a beam fabricated from SMAs. After a state of the art regarding different modelling strategies, the student must find an appropriate test bench solution that would be adapted to characterize the SMA beam. The test bench must be able to heat the SMA as well as measure the resulting displacement and force. This project will allow the student to learn the intricacies and the basics of modelling as well as test their creativity and design acumen while building a test bench prototype.