David Baillot / UCSD Soft extremities represent an alternative to rigid grippersDavid Baillot / UCSD
Inspired by the ease with which tape measures are rolled and unrolled, engineers at the University of California, San Diego, used flexible metal tapes to build a prototype robotic arm with soft extremities to pick fragile fruits and vegetables. Dubbed GRIP-tape (an acronym for Grasping and Rolling In-Plane), the gripper has two finger-like extensions, each with two spools made of elastic steel tape that extend or retract. Four motors control the movement of each finger, which can delicately grip objects, as well as rotating, twisting, translating, and conveying. In preliminary tests, the grippers performed well at picking tomatoes, grapes, and lemons without damaging them, reinforcing their potential as an alternative to rigid claws. Based on the results, the developers of the device highlighted that soft, curved materials offer many other opportunities for reconfigurable robotic mechanisms. One would be a device with three or four arms that could provide more stable movement (Science Advances, April 9).
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