New Grippy Material from Stanford

Stanford engineers debut adhesive material that doesn’t get stuck

January 2, 2022 · Topics: robotics

Cool things that this enables in robotics today that are hard even with machine vision + precision motion:

Lift berries, grapes, tomatoes, peaches by contact + gentle wrap rather than squeezing.
Pick up bread, tortillas, soft packaging.
Remove eggs from cartons
Handle wine glasses with thin stems
Grip trash bags (film + show-through contents) without puncturing.
Grab recycling bins, cardboard, odd plastic containers (textured/dirty).
Lift takeout containers without collapsing them.
Pick up a phone or remote lying flat without fingernail-like scooping.
Lift envelopes, papers, mail without corner-peeling tricks.
Grab textured produce (avocado skin), smooth plastics, paper cartons, foil wraps in a simpler planning model.