Deployable Environmental Monitoring Gripping Tree Station

To develop a comprehensive understanding of how forest canopies are affected by global
warming and environmental changes, a deployable environmental monitoring tree
station is suggested to grasp onto trees and collect temporal data in these ecosystems.
The grasping mechanism suggested for this purpose is the Trap Door 2 gripper,
which is a pyramidal caging mechanism actuated by a servo motor. This is the final prototype arrived at through outdoor testing and iterative brainstorming and fabrication. The Trap Door
2 gripper is successful in stably attaching to different canopy and vegetation types
using mechanical interlocking, pinching, and penetration principles. It surrounds
the vegetation for mechanical interlocking. Pinches the branches using the compressive
forces applied by the flaps. Penetrates the tree via its pyramidal and angular
shape by pushing the leaves close together inside the cavity. As well, it stabilizes
itself by using its sharp shell to engage the surrounding branches to rest on. Additionally,
due to its large cavity size, it can accommodate various vegetation and
branch types in sparse and dense oval, spreading, vase, and rounded canopies. This
enables data acquisition from a wide selection of regions and trees. The large cavity
alongside multiple dynamic flap surfaces, allow for orientation independent grasping.
Meanwhile, this gripper can be easily scaled up and manufactured due to its
repeating fundamental triangular cell. However, the gripper is less likely to maintain
a secure grip on twigs and solo branches that are surrounded by little vegetation
due to tipping over and rotating about its center of mass. These tipping cases are
most common when the gripper rests on a very thick branch or a very thin twig-like
branch that is far from the tree trunk.