All-round robotic gripper holds everything from screwdrivers to strawberries

A new all-round robotic gripper can hold a huge range of objects of different shapes and textures thanks to adjustable stiffness and a honeycomb structure.

The gripper, which was developed at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (Kimm), could expand the number of processes without human contact in areas including manufacturing, packaging and cooking. It can handle different objects such as screwdrivers, light bulbs and coffee pots, and even food with delicate surfaces, such as tofu, strawberries and raw chicken.

Developed by a team led by Chanhun Park from the Kimm Department of Robotics and Mechatronics, the gripper surface initially has extremely low stiffness to prevent damage to objects. Only the area pressed by the object is selectively deformed, so the contact surface can perfectly match the target object, helping create a firm grip.

“The soft structure technology allows the gripper surface to perfectly match target objects in [an] extremely soft state, using the honeycomb structure and stretchable mesh structure,” said senior researcher Sung-hyuk Song.

After the grabbing action, the gripper surface hardens, keeping the object stable. This feature allows it to safely hold objects, including those with fragile surfaces.

“The sense of stability provided by the gripper is such that users will feel as if it has been customised for the specific object,” a research announcement claimed.

The firm grip means the device can not only move objects, but it could also perform complicated tasks such as manipulating various ingredients to cook complex dishes.

“Conventional grippers are applicable to only a few objects, but our all-round grippers can be applied to various objects of different shape and size, because the gripper's surface shape and rigidity can be transformed according to the target object,” said Park. “We hope the developed all-round gripper plays a key role in the advancement of contact-free services, where there is much need for innovation.”

The research was published in IEEE Xplore.