Shape-shifting robot can grip differently-shaped items

Video link. The Jambot is a shape-changing robotic prototype being developed by a team led by University of Chicago Physicist Heinrich Jaeger and his group through a DARPA initiative. Also involved is iRobot, the company best known for the Roomba.

He and [colleague Eric] Brown have designed a gripper using jamming and flexible structures that could replace a robotic claw. A typical claw needs hinges, motors, and feedback sensors to prevent it from crushing the object it's trying to hold, and the computational power to operate them. But Jaeger's jamming-based gripper is more like a beanbag, flowing around the object and then holding it gently. "We came at this from a completely different perspective," he says, "looking for a way to short-circuit this inherent complexity."

Previous BB coverage. For those want to try a HOWTO, Carlos Asmat, Jr. has a cool web entry and video of his DIY version of the gripper using a balloon, tubing, cloth, a rubber band, and ground coffee. (via University of Chicago Magazine)

Andrea James is a writer, director, producer and activist based in Los Angeles. Her work often focuses on consumer activism, the free culture movement, exogenous mysticism, humor, and LGBT rights.

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alllie

Is it holding things by vacuum? Cause there’s a vacuum sound.

Also, I can write better than that.
- Mr. Son
  
  The vacuum is inside the bean bag, tightening the shape around the object, rather than using the vacuum directly to hold the object (which would be ineffective on items with unusual shapes, such as the spring).
Erwin Van Lun

This is impressive indeed.

Suppose the bean bag would have the size of fingers, and the vacuum is outed layer of an artificial hand. That would really be powerful!
Nadreck

Bah, the Daleks figured out that the sucker-pad is the best artificial grip a long time ago.
JPW

This was news a few weeks back. . . .
Andrea James

Thanks for sharing, JPW. I thought makers among us might like the interesting new HOWTO stuff and was giving some background.
kevinsky

So THIS is how Strong Bad types with boxing gloves on.
Anonymous

I can’t get enough of watching it squish down on top of things.