A soft robotic gripper having component parts capable of being assembled in the field at the terminus of an industrial robot arm for providing adaptive gripping of a product. A hub includes a pneumatic inlet leading to outlets. Finger mounts with pneumatic passages hold inflatable fingers, and tension fastener(s) secure and compress the finger mounts toward the hub by passing through the pneumatic passages and fastening under tension in a direction of the hub.

According to an embodiment, an article posture changing device includes: a first end effector configured to grasp a projected tag of an article by adsorption; an arm unit configured to support the first end effector and move the first end effector along at least a vertical direction; and a controller configured to control the arm unit and the first end effector to grasp the tag, lift the article upward, separate the article from a placement surface, change an angle of the article by weight thereof, move the article downward, place the article on the placement surface, and release the grasp of the tag.

A cooking system comprises a robot; and a memory storing computer executable instructions which, when executed, cause the robot to execute a plurality of operations comprising: a first operation including picking up a cooking auxiliary tool in which a cooking target is set in a first section, conveying the cooking auxiliary tool to a second section, and causing the cooking target in the cooking auxiliary tool to undergo first cooking processing in the second section; and a second operation including conveying the cooking auxiliary tool storing the cooking target having undergone the first cooking processing in the second section to a third section. A duct is arranged in an upper space of the second section, the robot has a proximal end that is fixed to a vertical wall member, and the proximal end of the robot is attached to the wall member at a location away from the second section.

Disclosed is a gripper including a pair of main bodies each having an internal space and spaced apart from each other, a pair of openings provided at ends of the pair of main bodies, a pair of moving bodies protruding from the ends of the pair of main bodies through the openings, a pair of inner bodies fixed in the internal space of the pair of main bodies, and a pair of springs configured to be compressed between the inner body and the moving body.

A movable object holding system for holding a movable object including a body portion 11 and a protruding portion protruding from the body portion, comprising a hand part 40 holding a movable object, the hand part 40 comprising plural guide portions limiting movement of the movable object in a first axis direction and a second axis direction that are perpendicular to each other and a pair of positioning portions 43e limiting movement of the movable object in a third axis direction that is perpendicular to the first and second axis directions, wherein the hand part 40 holds the movable object with the protruding portion of the movable object disposed in a space surrounded by the plural guide portions and touching the pair of the positioning portions 43e and with a part of the body portion of the movable object exposed out of the hand part 40.

A method moves a stack of products by a robot. The robot has an articulated arm and at least one gripper disposed on the articulated arm to grip the stack of printed products and the stack of products selectively being turned. The method includes pivoting the stack of products through an effective angle α1< >180° and subsequently pivoting the stack through an effective angle α2=180°−α1 or pivoting the stack back through an effective angle α2=−α1. This method of moving stacks of products is performed in an automated way and in particular of depositing them in a turned or unturned arrangement.

Systems and methods for grasping and manipulating objects are presented. The systems include a first actuator configured to either contract, expand, or rotate about a first axis. In some cases the actuator acts to deform a structure that is configured to grasp an object. In other cases the actuator directly interacts with an object to grasp the object or aid in the grasping of the object. The entire system may be connected to a robotic arm or other system to allow for picking and placing of objects. The first actuator includes a compliant shell defining an enclosed cavity, a dielectric fluid disposed within the enclosed cavity, a first electrode disposed on a first side of the compliant shell, and a second electrode disposed on a second side of the compliant shell opposite the first side.

End effectors and methods for gripping a curvilinear sheet of material are disclosed herein. The curvilinear sheet of material defines a first sheet side having a curvilinear first side topography and a second sheet side having a curvilinear second side topography. The end effector includes a negative mating shaped first sheet-engaging surface configured to operatively support the first sheet side and having a curvilinear first sheet-engaging surface topography that corresponds to the curvilinear first side topography. The end effector also includes a second sheet-engaging surface configured to operatively support the second sheet side and having a curvilinear appropriately mating negative shaped second sheet-engaging surface topography that corresponds to the curvilinear second side topography. The end effector further includes an actuation mechanism configured to selectively transition the end effector between an open orientation and a gripping (converging) orientation. The methods include methods of utilizing the end effectors.

The end effector 10 includes a joint section 11 connected to a robotic arm 220, a working section 14 for performing work on an object 500, an actuator 40 is located between the joint section 11 and the working section 14 and moves the working section 14 in a first direction in which the joint section 11 and the working section 14 are aligned, a piezoelectric element 45 that drives an actuator 40.

A method of collating packages that includes receiving a plurality of packages in a main channel of a collation module, conveying the packages in the main channel along parallel grooves having a first portion arranged perpendicularly to the main channel, and conveying the packages in the main channel along a second portion of the parallel grooves angled towards a first side of the collation module, where each package passes through first and second portions of a single groove.