Robotic hands need to be able to securely grasp and move objects with different shapes without breaking them. Festo, a German automation and controls company, has developed a new type of device to do so. The FlexShapeGripper has a silicone cap on the tip that can be sucked in or released. It's inspired by the amazing natural grappling capacity of a chameleon's tongue.
This video shows the FlexShapeGripper in action, picking up objects of different sizes and shapes, including glasses, car keys, and ball bearings. Festo envisions it as useful for industrial robots that can be used for different tasks without requiring complex mechanical alterations.
-via Core77
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There are some neat variations of this that have been around for the last several years, using often bags filled with beans or sand. I think this is the first I've seen that didn't have some sort of solid filler in the grasping part.
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