Collaborative robots continue to expand their use in industry every day. Collaborative robots and collaborative robot arms have become a part of both industrial life and daily life, from production lines in factories to making a coffee alone and serving it to the customer. However, they cannot be separated from their grippers who do not leave them alone in all these applications.

“Robotics will shape both the way we understand the world and the way we live in it. From medicine to entertainment to exploration, the possibilities are endless.”

– Daniele Benedettelli

As the use of robotic arms has become more widespread, they need to be more efficient with the products they would interact with for the task they were performing. For this reason, MCFLY Robot Technologies and robot manufacturers from all over the world have thought about this problem and tried to create the most ideal gripper designs for the tasks performed by robot arms.

Let’s take a quick look at the grippers that emerged, arising from the needs of specific applications, and a look at the applications where these holders are used.
 

Two Finger Grippers

Two-finger grippers are the first grippers that come to mind when it comes to robotic arms. The journey of this strong-fingered gripper, which started with holding, lifting, and positioning products of many shapes and weights in industrial use, has reached the level of being able to lift much more sensitive and small objects with different finger widths and fingertips. Today, two-fingered grippers accompany robotic arms in many tasks, from loading raw materials into industrial machines to packaging and palletizing an end product.

Parallel Finger Grippers

Parallel-finger grippers are a gripper model that emerged as a result of the need for robotic arms to work in tighter spaces. When picking up a tube from a shelf or inserting a component into an electronic circuit, the wide finger opening of the two-finger gripper makes it difficult to use. The parallel-finger gripper has been developed to overcome this problem and is suitable for working in tight spaces. Parallel-finger grippers are now available in versions with pivoting fingers for tasks that require movement, such as closing the cap of a bottle.
 

Soft Finger Grippers

Soft-finger grippers have become widespread as a result of the emergence of situations where mechanical grasping can damage the product. Especially in the food industry, it is of great importance to handle soft textured objects without damaging them. Soft-finger grippers support production lines together with robotic arms in handling and packaging products without damaging them.