They just used a thick balloon filled with ground coffee and applied suction to it.
Amazing,
I work for an automation company and we work with grippers of all kinds . . . but I have never seen anything like this before.
I work for an automation company and we work with grippers of all kinds . . . but I have never seen anything like this before.
I found it pretty amazing as well; as a robotics hobbyist and enthusiast since the early 1980's (when I was in grade school - robotics have been a fascination of mine for a long while!), I too haven't seen anything like this in all the literature I have read.
What strikes me most is the fact that something this "simple" has taken this long to come to "fruition". I often wonder what other simple solutions to complex problem lie around us, just waiting for someone to go "aha!".
Regardless, I guess now it is for industry to find an application for this simple technology - it looks like it would be great for light-weight pick-n-place applications where accuracy isn't a requirement, but the part isn't amenable to a regular gripper or jig.
Could they use this tech to make humanoid-hands with a gripping surface? Like line the pseudo-fingers with pads of this stuff? That's the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this.