TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose This paper aims to provide details of recent commercial and academic developments in flexible and soft grippers and considers their impact on emerging robotic markets.Design/methodology/approach Following an introduction, this paper first considers commercially available anthropomorphic robotic hands and soft grippers. It then discusses a selection of recent research activities and concludes with a brief discussion of the potential of these developments.Findings Anthropomorphic robotic hands, which seek to mimic the structure and capabilities of the human hand, together with a technologically diverse family of soft grippers have recently have been commercialised. Most are produced by companies which spun-out from academic establishments. A strong body of innovative research continues and involves a wide range of principles and technologies. These gripping technologies are expected to catalyse several new and emerging applications; the most important being in agile manufacturing, particularly when used with collaborative robots (cobots).Originality/value This paper provides details of recent developments and research into anthropomorphic hands and soft grippers and an insight into their applications.
VL  - 43
IS  - 3
SN  - 0143-991X
DO  - 10.1108/IR-01-2016-0027
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-01-2016-0027
AU  - Bogue Robert
PY  - 2016
Y1  - 2016/01/01
TI  - Flexible and soft robotic grippers: the key to new markets?
T2  - Industrial Robot: An International Journal
PB  - Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SP  - 258
EP  - 263
Y2  - 2024/04/19
ER  -