They invent flexible robotic tweezers that can handle even egg yolks and even human hair

This is the new technique that researchers have discovered to create tweezers capable of handling highly sensitive objects.

Although the market niche of robotic grippers has improved ostensibly in recent years, many of them being able to hold glass cups or even golf balls, until now the step had not been taken to manufacture a robotic gripper able to handle things as delicate as egg yolks or even human hair.

And now engineering researchers from the North Carolina State University They have developed a new type of flexible robotic forceps that are inspired by the art of kirigami, capable of lifting delicate egg yolks without breaking them and even lifting a human hair.

The researchers explain in release These clips are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheets, which are used primarily in the food packaging industry. So they have managed to develop new techniques that use kirigami to convert 2D sheets into curved 3D structures through parallel cuts.

To do this, parallel slits were cut into the sheets using a laser cutter before stretching them to form their 3D shape. Subsequently, the final shape of the 3D structure ended up being largely determined by the outer boundary of the material. So this final design involves pulling on two handles to squeeze the claw-like gripping mechanism and pick up soft objects.

So with this shape, the tweezers are able to grab the bottom of the object and interlock like a cage to create a secure compartment to hold it.

They transferred this utility to the creation of tweezers capable of grasping and lifting objects ranging from an egg yolk to human hair.

In the report they explain that conventional tweezers are capable of gripping an object firmly, but this can be a problem when trying to grasp fragile objects. But thanks to his tweezers, that essentially surround an object and then lift it up, allows them to “grip” and move even delicate objects without sacrificing pressure.

But in addition to using their technique for robotic grippers, they believe this new technology could be capable of designing biomedical technologies that conform to the shape of a joint, such as the human knee.