Skip to main content

This new soft robotic gripper can gently pick up objects of practically any shape

Get a Grip with Soft Electronics
Robots aren’t exactly known for their delicate touch, but soon, the stereotype of the non-gentle machine may change. Scientists say they have managed to develop a robot with “a new soft gripper” that makes use of a phenomenon known as electroadhesion — which is essentially the next best thing to giving robots opposable thumbs. According to EPFL scientists, these next-gen grippers can handle fragile objects no matter what their shape — everything from an egg to a water balloon to a piece of paper is fair game.

This latest advance in robotics, funded by NCCR Robotics, may allow machines to take on unprecedented roles. “This is the first time that electroadhesion and soft robotics have been combined together to grasp objects,” said Jun Shintake, a doctoral student at EPFL. Potential applications include handling food, capturing debris (both in space and at home), or even being integrated into prosthetic limbs.

Related Videos
Screen Shot 2016-02-02 at 3.19.31 PM

The robotic “fingers” work by way of electrodes, which bend towards the object in question much like a human muscle would move. The electrodes’ tips then “gently conform” to the object, holding onto it with electrostatic forces — the same forces at play between a balloon and your hair or the wall. Most impressive is the weight capacity of these electrodes, which can carry up to 80 times their own weight.

“The novelty of our soft gripper is the ideal combination of two technologies: artificial muscles and electroadhesion,” said PhD co-supervisor of the new research, Dario Floreano of EPFL. His co-supervisor, PhD Herbert Shea added, “Our unique configuration of electrodes and silicone membranes is what allows us to control the bending of the flaps and the electrostatic grip.”

You can check out the ingenious new technology in EPFL’s new video, and thank sweet, sweet technology for making machines a gentler species.

Editors' Recommendations

Dyson lifts lid on ‘top secret’ project
A robot being developed by Dyson.

Dyson recently revealed a “top secret” project it’s been working on that involves robots for household chores.

While it already has some robotics experience thanks to its 360 Heurist robovac, the British company says it’s planning to deploy new engineering teams in the U.K. and Singapore tasked with developing a range of domestic robots.

Read more
Finishing touch: How scientists are giving robots humanlike tactile senses
A woman's hand is held by a robot's hand.

There’s a nightmarish scene in Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 movie Pan's Labyrinth in which we are confronted by a sinister humanoid creature called the Pale Man. With no eyes in his monstrous, hairless head, the Pale Man, who resembles an eyeless Voldemort, sees with the aid of eyeballs embedded in the palms of his hands. Using these ocular-augmented appendages, which he holds up in front of his eyeless face like glasses, the Pale Man is able to visualize and move through his surroundings.

This to a degree describes work being carried out by researchers at the U.K’.s Bristol Robotics Laboratory -- albeit without the whole terrifying body horror aspect. Only in their case, the Pale Man substitute doesn’t simply have one eyeball in the palm of each hand; he’s got one on each finger.

Read more
Spot’s latest robot dance highlights new features
Spot robot dancing.

Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot has hit the dance floor again in a new video that seeks to highlight recent improvements made to the quadruped contraption.

No Time to Dance | Boston Dynamics

Read more