Research group extends capabilities of jamming universal gripper robot arm effector (w/ video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Last we heard, researchers from Cornell University, the University of Chicago and iRobot had together designed and built a robot “hand” or end effector that worked by taking advantage of the jamming that occurs when air is added to or removed from an enclosed container that holds a material that can be compressed. In this case, the team had filled an ordinary party balloon with dried coffee, which they then affixed to a vacuum pump. Adding air made the coffee pliant enough to allow the balloon to settle around an object. Quickly sucking out the air caused the coffee to compress (jam together) exerting pressure on the object, allowing it to be held and moved around by the gripper which was attached to a programmable robot arm. Now, a subset of that team has added a new feature to their universal gripper, the ability to accurately toss the...