End Effectors / Grippers

This month’s special issue of The Robot Report examines developments and trends in end-of-arm tooling.

I met Jeremy Fishel, founder of Tangible Research, at CES 2020. Tangible Research is one of three institutions involved in developing a haptic-controlled, humanoid gripping system called the Tactile Telerobot. Interviewing him in his packed booth on the floor of Eureka Park, he introduced me to his colleagues from the Shadow Robot Company, SynTouch and HaptX.…

The small installation that Marcel Schuck has assembled on his workbench is reminiscent of a school physics lesson: an arrangement, comprising two semi-​spheres and resembling a pair of headphones, is connected to a circuit board carrying microchips. He is using the assembly to demonstrate a physical effect. A small sphere hovers between the two semi-​spheres,…

Chinese researchers recently demonstrated a robotic gripper mechanism that mimics how a sea anemone catches its prey. The bionic torus captures and releases objects by crimping its skin.

Robotic manipulation innovator Soft Robotics has raised $23 million in an “oversubscribed” Series B round, with participation from FANUC.

Danish gripper and sensor provider OnRobot has raised funding as it continues its ambitious global expansion.

Purple Robotics first caught our attention at Automatica 2018 for its innovative PR10 vacuum gripper that doesn’t use external compressed air. The company caught the attention of OnRobot, too. It acquired Purple Robotics in August 2018 and rebranded the PR10 as the VG10. OnRobot is now introducing the VGC10, a smaller, lighter version that is…

Soft Robotics has announced that its new mGrip soft robotic grippers will be available worldwide through FANUC’s distribution network. They will also be integrated with FANUC’s products.

The certified URCap software provides a unified interface for the new versions of OnRobot’s RG2, RG6, and VG10 grippers with Universal Robots’ cobots.

OnRobot’s One-System Solution enables multiple robots to easily integrate with its end-of-arm tools. The Leadership in Engineering Achievement Program recognized it with a Gold Award, to be presented at the Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum.

Researchers at the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision have developed a way for robots to “think on the move,” using active perception to improve grasping and manipulation.

Magswitch switchable magnets, now available through Festo, can improve the productivity and quality of stamping, welding, and pick-and-place operations.

Soft Robotics has made its pneumatic grippers portable with the new coDrive technology, enabling a range of collaborative robotics applications.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have compiled a dataset that captures the detailed behavior of a robotic system physically pushing hundreds of different objects. Using the dataset — the largest and most diverse of its kind — researchers can train robots to “learn” pushing dynamics that are fundamental to many complex object-manipulation tasks,…

If you’re at a desk with a pen or pencil handy, try this move: Grab the pen by one end with your thumb and index finger, and push the other end against the desk. Slide your fingers down the pen, then flip it upside down, without letting it drop. Not too hard, right? But for…

By training pair of neural networks to solve a Rubik’s Cube with a single robot hand, OpenAI has demonstrated a new technique called automatic domain randomization, which it said can help solve real-world problems without prior data.

Eureka Robotics, a spinoff of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, has created Archimedes, a robot that can apply human-like dexterity to handling delicate lenses and optical components.

Medtronic is taking advantage of its experience in medical device manufacturing and instrumentation in the development of its new modular robot-assisted surgical platform.

For the first time, the International Federation of Robotics has called out growth in collaborative robot arms, representing an opportunity for makers and users of grippers or end-of-arm tooling, writes OnRobot’s CEO.

A dynamic gripper that uses magnets to adjust how tight two robotic fingers grasp is on its way to commercialization.

OnRobot has announced a unified electrical and mechanical interface across all of its gripper products, intended to make it easier for manufacturers to benefit from collaborative robots.

6 River Systems, which makes the Chuck AMRs and Mobile Sort smart kiosks, and Soft Robotics, which makes compliant grippers and the SuperPick system, have integrated their offerings for mobile picking.