The new OnRobot food-grade Soft Gripper is able to pick a wide array of irregular shapes and delicate items in food and beverage, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals production, as well as manufacturing or packaging

Automation just got easier for food and beverage and other “clean” applications such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals that need to handle items from eggs to fruit, to bottles or irregular-shaped containers.

The flexible OnRobot Soft Gripper uses three interchangeable silicon-moulded cups in star and four-finger configurations to pick up almost any small object under 2.2kg with a delicate, precise touch. The electric Soft Gripper is food-grade certified (complies with FDA 21 CFR for non-fatty items and EC 1935/2004) and unlike traditional vacuum grippers, it requires no external air supply, so it can reduce both cost and complexity.

“Our new Soft Gripper is challenging existing solutions for picking hard-to-grasp, delicate and odd-sized items,” says CEO of OnRobot, Enrico Krog Iversen. “Unlike proprietary solutions, the Soft Gripper offers seamless integration with most collaborative robots and light industrial robots through our One System Solution.”

OnRobot’s award-winning One System Solution is a platform that provides a unified mechanical and electrical interface between leading robot arms and any OnRobot end-of-arm tooling (EoAT). The One System Solution has been newly expanded to include integration with robots from ABB Robotics and Hanwha Precision Machinery. Now, users of those robots can take advantage of the unified mechanical and electrical interface of any OnRobot product, for easier integration and faster ROI.

While the Soft Gripper is ideal for food and beverage applications, it also provides flexible, delicate gripping for manufacturing and packaging.

Soft Gripper Features:
Up to 2.2kg payload based on shape, softness and friction of items to be handled
Grip dimensions ranging from 10mm-118mm depending on cup used
FDA certification
Flexible, interchangeable silicon cups
Ideal handling for delicate objects and irregular shapes
No need for supplied air
Fast, flexible deployment with seamless integration on all major robot brands

Increased Demand in Australia

IDC has forecast that global spending on robotics systems and drones will reach $128.7 billion for 2020, with spending expected to reach $241.4 billion by 2023.[1] Also, AlphaBeta estimates that automation can boost Australia’s productivity and national income by $2.2 trillion by 2030, while leading to the development of new products, services and business models.[2]

The collaborative robots market in Asia Pacific will grow at a 2020-2026 CAGR of 45.46% with an addressable cumulative market value of $13.17 billion over the next seven years in terms of cobot hardware.[3] The Asia Pacific pharmaceutical & cosmetics industrial robot market is expected to grow by 13.3% annually and reach $544.67 million by 2025[4], while the food robotics market will reach $1,162.3 million by 2026, grow at a 14.6% CAGR over 2019-2026.[5]