A firm, flexible grip: General Industry Coverage

Hard robotic grippers are effective for handling complex part shapes and various materials. However, they can require a significant engineering effort to design and program, then redesign and reprogram in the likely event a different part must be robotically handled.

To cut the time and cost for custom end-of-arm tooling, Empire Robotics introduced the Versaball gripper, which conforms to and grasps a range of objects, shapes and materials without reprogramming. The possibilities range from pills and coins to light bulbs, heavy bricks, and metal parts with complex contours.

“If you have weird-shaped parts or parts that have variations, sometimes there is a lot of time that goes into designing a tool that can handle these parts,” said Bill Culley, company president. “Our tool can eliminate that design time.”

The gripper is a squishy, polymer-blend balloon membrane that measures about 0.03 ” (0.762mm) thick and is full of submillimeter particles that conform around an object. Using a process called “granular jamming,” air is quickly sucked out of the ball, vacuum-packing the particles and hardening the gripper around the object to hold and lift it. The object releases when the ball is reinflated with air.

When gripping parts, the objective is to create the biggest pressure differential from outside the gripper to the inside by pulling a deep vacuum inside the gripper, Culley explained. “Essentially, what happens is the atmospheric pressure compresses the gripper and jams the grains. By controlling the pressure inside the gripper, we can control the hardness from very soft to very hard.”

Courtesy of Empire Robotics

The Versaball can grip a variety of parts, such as this metal connector, without reprogramming.