Design and feasibility tests of multi-functional gripper for handling variable shape of food products

The application of automation for handling of nonrigid or semirigid food products are limited due to lack of appropriate gripper. Most of the robot grippers are not easily applicable due to food products are often delicate, easily marked or bruised, adhesive and slippery. In this paper, we present an innovative approach of a gripper for handling variable size, shape and weight of unpacked food products. The gripper operates using Bernoulli principle of generating a high-speed flow between the gripper plate and product surface thereby creating a vacuum which lifted the product was designed and built. Feasibility experiments were performed to demonstrate and obtain an overall understanding on the capability and limitations of the gripper.