SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop an innovative robotic gripper that leverages the unique jamming behavior of granular materials to enable a device that can passively conform to objects of varying shape and then vacuum harden to grip them rigidly. These jamming grippers are a unique solution to the need for agile gripping and manipulation of arbitrarily shaped objects with a single gripper ? a need that occurs in manufacturing robotics, prosthetics, and increasingly in home and healthcare robotics. Initial results published in top scientific journals have demonstrated successful implementation of this technique in a laboratory setting. The research objectives of this project are aimed at bringing this innovation out of the lab and demonstrating commercial feasibility. The objectives are: 1) iterative testing and optimization of the outer membrane material for performance and durability that meet industrial thresholds; 2) testing and optimization of granular materials to improve gripper performance and manufacturability; 3) testing grippers of varying size to quantify the influence of scaling on performance; and 4) demonstrating specific manufacturing tasks requested by industry advisors and potential customers. Successful completion of this project will position the team for immediate scale up and production of deliverable units. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is realized by comparing the proposed jamming gripper technology to existing solutions. Alternative robotic gripping solutions range (in increasing price) from vacuum suction cups, to basic jawed grippers, to customized or specialty grippers, and finally to complex multi-fingered hands. The simplicity of the proposed jamming gripper enables a one to two orders of magnitude price reduction over current grippers that achieve similar performance. The first target market will be industrial manufacturing, focusing on tasks where variations in object shape are prevalent (e.g. food handling, pharmaceuticals, bin picking, and kitting/assembly). This gripper is also uniquely positioned to create its own niche market in the simple, repetitive tasks in manufacturing that must currently be performed by human laborers due to prohibitive costs of automation. This will take workers out of uncomfortable and dangerous working conditions, and improve accuracy and efficiency for rate-limiting manufacturing steps. With 3.6 jobs created for each robot employed, this could revitalize small manufacturers struggling to compete today. The flexibility and low cost of a jamming gripper makes it a more agile and reusable component, allowing companies to vary their products more broadly without manufacturing line changes or purchases of new equipment

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will continue the development of an innovative robotic gripping technology that leverages the unique jamming behavior of granular materials to enable a device that can passively conform to objects of varying shape and then vacuum harden to grip them rigidly. These ?jamming grippers? are a unique solution for the agile gripping and manipulation of arbitrary objects with a single gripper -- a need that occurs in manufacturing robotics, prosthetics, and increasingly in home and healthcare robotics. Preliminary results published in top scientific journals successfully implemented this technique in a laboratory setting. The Phase I and Phase IB efforts further demonstrated the technical and market feasibility of a commercial product based on this technology. In Phase II, the research objective are: 1) to answer the critical remaining research questions that stand between the prototypes and a commercial product, 2) to demonstrate product feasibility by transitioning the technology from the prototype stage to a first Alpha product, and 3) to expand the capabilities of this technology by developing and testing prototypes for adjacent market applications. Successful completion of this project will position the team for sustainable sales of a suite of related products. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be realized through technological contributions in the area of robotics. The first target market will be industrial manufacturing, focusing on tasks where variations in object shape are prevalent (e.g. food handling, pharmaceuticals, bin picking, and kitting/assembly). Alternative robotic gripping solutions range (in increasing price) from vacuum suction cups, to traditional jawed grippers, to customized or specialty grippers, and finally to general purpose multi-fingered hands. The simplicity of the proposed jamming gripper can potentially enable two orders of magnitude price reduction over current grippers that achieve similar performance. This gripper is also uniquely positioned to open the door to a previously untapped niche market ? simple movement tasks in manufacturing that must currently be performed by human laborers due to lower volumes or frequent line changes. The flexibility and low cost of a jamming gripper makes it a more agile and reusable component, and this type of solution is the key element that is missing for bringing robotic automation to many smaller scale manufacturers in the U.S.