This Robot Gripper Can Reconfigure Itself for Different Tasks
The BLT Gripper attempts to address traditional end effector shortcomings by allowing the robot to reconfigure the gripper as necessary.
Take a moment to think about all of the amazing things humans can do with their hands. A guitarist has the dexterity to keep their fingers flying across the fretboard. A rock climber has the strength to cling to a cliff face by the tips of their fingers. A bare knuckle boxer is capable of unleashing devastating blows against their opponent. In stark contrast to that versatility, a robot’s gripper end effector — its equivalent of a hand — is incredibly limited in what it can do. The BLT Gripper is an attempt to address that shortcoming by allowing the robot to reconfigure the end effector as necessary.
BLT isn’t an acronym for a tasty sandwich, but instead stands for “Belt and Link actuated Transformable” adaptive gripper with active transition capability. That seems a bit like someone just through technical-sounding words at a dart board, but it makes a lot more sense when you take a look at how the gripper actually works. Each of its fingers is actuated in two places. The bottom of the finger can pivot, similar to the first joint of a human finger. The tip of each finger can also be contracted with a short belt, which acts a bit like a tendon. A single motor is used to contract all three fingertips, meaning they aren’t actuated independently.
Those are both very common among robot grippers, but the final actuator sets the BLT Gripper apart. That makes it possible for the two outer fingers to swivel around relative to the middle finger. By altering those finger positions, the robot can adopt a number of different gripping patterns. It can easily switch between a three-finger grip that resembles how a pitcher will sometimes hold a baseball, to a pinching grip that is ideal for picking up small, narrow objects. The flexibility in the belt “tendons” helps the fingers keep a firm grip with a little bit of give to it to protect delicate objects. It isn’t anywhere close to being as advanced as your own hand, but the BLT Gripper is a lot more versatile than most robotic end effectors that we come across.