An elephant nose gripper robot capable of grasping everything from very thin or thin objects like needles to large objects like boxes has been developed, and is expected to be applied in various fields such as the effective transport of goods.

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Park Sang-jin) under the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it has developed the world's first gripper capable of both grasping by pinching and suction, mimicking the elephant's action of pinching the tip of its trunk to grasp small objects and sucking in air through its trunk to grasp large objects.

The research team led by Senior Researcher Song Seong-hyeok of the Robotics and Mechatronics Laboratory at the AI Robot Research Center of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials has developed a flexible structure, a wire that creates the deformation of the structure, and a flexible, thin-walled, tweezers-adsorption hybrid elephant trunk gripper.

It is expected to be applicable to various fields as it can stably grasp and assemble objects without damage without complex mechanical devices or sensors, and can even transport items effectively.

The flexible structure has several microchannels that create a vacuum inside, helping the gripper to adhere to the object. Each of these microchannels is flexible and when it comes into contact with an object, it deforms to match the shape of the object and adheres, so the flexible structure itself acts as an adsorbent.

Additionally, when the deformation wire in the center of the structure is pulled, the structure folds in half and acts as a gripper, compressing and grasping the object.

At this time, the gripper retracts and the flexible wall located on the outside wraps around the object, sealing it around the object.

It has high gripping power because it can greatly increase the force of wrapping an object by wrapping it and then creating a vacuum inside.

Previously, grippers were developed separately as grabbers and suction-type grippers. Grabbers cannot grasp objects larger than the maximum opening of the gripper. While suction-type grippers can grasp objects of various sizes, they struggle to grasp extremely thin objects like needles or thread, or thin objects that require pinching, such as fabric or overlapping sheets of paper.

The newly developed model utilizes both gripper-type and suction-type gripping mechanisms simultaneously, enabling gripping of objects of various sizes and shapes. It can grip a variety of objects, such as picking up a needle (0.25mm in diameter) smaller than 1/100th the size of the gripper from the floor, or lifting a box 10 times its size by suction.

Additionally, even in the process of grasping like a pair of tongs, it is possible to grasp various objects simply by turning on and off the pneumatic cylinder that moves the deformation wire without any complex sensors or controls.

Senior Researcher Song Seong-hyeok explained, “By placing the soft gripper against the floor and simultaneously performing a vacuum-like action while pulling it in, it creates the effect of strongly pinching the floor with your fingers, making it possible to easily grip even very thin objects.”

By taking advantage of these advantages, you can perform complex tasks such as wrapping a doll in a gift box, placing a paper cake topper on a cake, lighting a candle by stably holding a match on the floor to prepare for a party, or making a flower arrangement by holding branches of various irregularly shaped flowers lying on the floor.

Park Chan-hoon, head of the AI Robot Research Center, said, “The elephant nose gripper, which is a fusion of gripper and suction, is soft and poses no risk of injury even when working with people. In addition, it can easily handle objects of various sizes, from precise parts to boxes, without complex mechanical structures or sensors, so it can be applied to various industrial fields as well as daily life.” He added, “We expect it to be of great help to companies producing a variety of products and varying quantities, and to the development of service robots in everyday life.”

Meanwhile, this research was conducted with support from the basic project of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, ‘Smart End Effector for All-in-One Robot Work System.’