Disclosed herein is a shape compliant electroadhesive gripper for picking up an atypical object. The shape compliant electroadhesive gripper comprises a body, and an electroadhesive module disposed on the body and including an electrorheological elastomer, wherein, when a voltage is not applied, a shape of the electroadhesive module is deformed according to a shape of an external object coming into contact with the electroadhesive module, and when the voltage is applied, rigidity of the electrorheological elastomer is increased to maintain the shape of the electroadhesive module, and when the voltage is applied to the electroadhesive module, electroadhesion is made due to an electrostatic force generated between the electrorheological elastomer and the adjacent external object.

A method and system for picking or put-away within a logistics facility. The system includes a central server and at least one mobile manipulation robot. The central server is configured to communicate with the robots to send and receive picking data which includes a unique identification for each item to be picked, a location within the logistics facility of the items to be picked, and a route for the robot to take within the logistics facility. The robots can then autonomously navigate and position themselves within the logistics facility by recognition of landmarks by at least one of a plurality of sensors. The sensors also provide signals related to detection, identification, and location of a item to be picked or put-away, and processors on the robots analyze the sensor information to generate movements of a unique articulated arm and end effector on the robot to pick or put-away the item.

A micro device transfer system includes a transfer head having pick-up electrodes for picking micro devices and thin-film transistors (TFTs) corresponding to the pick-up electrodes; a transfer head holder for holding the transfer head; a TFT driver board electrically connected to control the TFTs; a donor or acceptor substrate for carrying the micro devices; and a substrate holder for holding the donor or acceptor substrate.

The present invention provides a shear gripper device using fibrillar, gecko-inspired adhesives that have the characteristics of being non-tacky in its default state and requiring no normal force to grip a surface. The adhesion is turned on by the applied shear load, and off as the shear load is removed. The shear adhesive gripper is able to grasp large, deformable or delicate objects using a delicate touch.

Provided are systems and methods for the post-treatment of dry adhesive microstructures. The microstructures may be post-treated to comprise mushroom-like flaps at their tips to interface with the contact surface. In some aspects, a change in material composition of the microstructures in a dry adhesive may affect mechanical properties to enhance or diminish overall adhesive performance. For example, conductive additives can be added to the material to improve adhesive performance. In other aspects, microstructures comprising conductive material may allow for pre-load engagement sensing systems to be integrated into the microstructures.

A micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) array system is configured to apply suction forces for the manipulation of objects. The MEMS system includes includes a two-dimensional MEMS array of a plurality of individual MEMS elements. Each MEMS element comprises: a casing structure; a flexible membrane attached to the casing structure; and an electrode structure, wherein a voltage applied to the electrode structure actuates the MEMS element to cause the flexible membrane to flex relative to the casing structure. The flexible membrane and the casing structure define a gap into which the flexible membrane may flex, and a foot extends from the flexible membrane in a direction away from the casing structure, wherein the foot and the flexible membrane define a clearance region on an opposite side of the flexible membrane from the gap. When the MEMS element interacts with an object to be manipulated the foot spaces the membrane apart from the object. The MEMS array system further includes a control circuit that selectively actuates one or more of the MEMS elements of the MEMS array.

The invention provides a conveyor mechanism with a suction cup, an end effector and a robot, and the conveyor mechanism can receive the cargo transported from a external conveying mechanism, and the suction cup can suck the cargo, so that the cargo is firmly placed on the conveyor mechanism to prevent it from falling, which increases the reliability of the robot to grasp the cargo, and also increases the upper limit of the moving speed of the robot arm while ensuring that the cargo does not fall down from the end effector, and meanwhile increases the success rate and processing speed of the logistics transportation.

Disclosed herein is a shape compliant electroadhesive gripper for picking up an atypical object. The shape compliant electroadhesive gripper comprises a body, and an electroadhesive module disposed on the body and including an electrorheological elastomer, wherein, when a voltage is not applied, a shape of the electroadhesive module is deformed according to a shape of an external object coming into contact with the electroadhesive module, and when the voltage is applied, rigidity of the electrorheological elastomer is increased to maintain the shape of the electroadhesive module, and when the voltage is applied to the electroadhesive module, electroadhesion is made due to an electrostatic force generated between the electrorheological elastomer and the adjacent external object.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for grasping an object. The apparatus includes a substrate comprising a plurality of electrode pixels; and a controller configured to energize each electrode pixel of the plurality of electrode pixels individually, wherein the apparatus is configured to grasp an object electrostatically using the substrate.

The electroadhesive pad comprises a substrate, a first electrical network, and a second electrical network. The first electrical network comprises a first subset of electrodes and a first voltage source configured to apply an output voltage at a first polarity to the first subset of electrodes. The second electrical network comprises a second subset of electrodes and a second voltage source configured to apply the output voltage to the second subset of electrodes at a second polarity. The first and second voltage sources are disposed along a central region of the electroadhesive pad. The first and second subsets of electrodes are supported by the substrate and extend between the central region and a perimeter of the electroadhesive pad. The methods include producing a custom electrostatic pad by mapping a shape of the custom electroadhesive pad onto a stock electroadhesive pad and cutting the stock electroadhesive pad into the shape.