Coffee may give you a better grip

Citation

Bloss, R. (2011), "Coffee may give you a better grip", Industrial Robot, Vol. 38 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2011.04938caf.001

Coffee may give you a better grip

Article Type: Mini features From: Industrial Robot: An International Journal, Volume 38, Issue 3

Researchers at Cornell University and University of Chicago have teamed with iRobot Corp. to develop a gripper, which employs ground coffee for a better grip (Figure 1). Traditionally end of arm tooling for robots has employed either a multiple finger technique or a vacuum cup to grip the object to be handled by the robot. The finger gripper must be tailored to the object, two fingers for flat or rectangular objects and three fingers for round objects. The vacuum cup gripper only works on flat non-porous objects. Leaving hundreds or thousands of other shapes not suitable for robotic handling.

Figure 1 The ground coffee gripper lifting a spring encased vehicle shock absorber

Soon, when the coffee gripper is commercialized, robot application specialists will have available a means to pick up many objects not possible before. The device uses a plastic bag, similar to a latex party balloon, filled with ground coffee. The bag is pressed down over the object to be gripped. Then a vacuum is drawn on the bag and the coffee grounds compress around the object to hold it. The coffee-filled balloon presses down and deforms around the object.

Tests have shown that as little as a 0.5 percent volume reduction in the bag is sufficient to grip reliably.

The gripper action employs three mechanisms, friction, suction and a mechanical interlocking action to create forces exceeding many times the weight of the object being grabbed. The granular material flows around the object to be picked up and conforms to the object’s shape.

When it is time to release the object, the vacuum is turned off and the coffee-filled balloon immediately let us loose of the object. Researchers see the device being applied to many new applications such as dismantling an explosive device, other dangerous objects, robot arms in factories picking up random objects of many configurations or even used as robotic feet for climbing walls. Another potential application is as the “hand” on prosthetic arms.

The coffee gripper will make it possible to pick up almost any configuration, hold it tightly and deposit it where needed. Maybe then robot application specialists will have time for another cup of coffee? For more information on the coffee gripper or to watch video of the gripper in action, please visit the web site: www.ccsl.mae.cornell.edu/jamming_gripper?q=jamming_gripper

Richard BlossAssociate Editor, Industrial Robot