Why Did MIT Choose the 3-Finger Robot Gripper from Robotiq?

Written by Mathieu Bélanger-Barrette | Feb 02, 2015 9:07 PM

I get asked very often, "Who is typically using the robotic hand from Robotiq?". Well, it is very hard to describe a specific company or specific applications that use our Robot Grippers. However, that is the cool thing about it, a lot of applications can be done with our Adaptive Grippers. Some people are using it for simple pick and place applications, but some others are using it for highly complex and coordinated motions that really push the flexibility of robot applications to a next level. This is the case with MIT. A student of the robotic lab was able to give us a short interview on the reasons why they are using our Gripper for several different projects.

Claudia Pérez D'Arpino is a PhD student and research assistant from the Interactive Robotics Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is using our Robotiq Grippers for her project. We wanted to know what were the reasons why the lab decided to choose our Grippers. So, we asked for a quick interview to understand their rational.

Robotiq: Where did you first learn or hear about Robotiq Grippers?

Claudia Pérez D'Arpino: Our first experience with Robotiq Grippers was in the DARPA Robotics Challenge manipulation tasks. We also use the Robotiq 3-Finger Adaptive Gripper for manipulation in our dual arm dexterous manipulator.

Robotiq: I guess you did some testing with other brands or other types of solutions, why did you choose our Grippers for your final selection?

Claudia: The Robotiq Gripper proved to be reliable and durable, keeping the hardware in working condition despite frequent use in tasks that are demanding to both the material and the mechanical parts.

Robotiq: Was there a key feature that convinced you to choose the 3-Finger Adaptive Gripper?

Claudia: The shape and size of the palm and fingers together with rotations of the fingers make the hand very usable in practice, whereas the ability to apply force even with the tip of the fingers through the under actuated mechanism is key in enabling manipulation of objects in constrained spaces.

Robotiq: Are there any other Robotiq devices that would be interesting for your research?

Claudia: We are interested in exploiting the capability of force/torque sensors, both on the wrist and the surface of the palm and fingers (tactile sensors), in order to evaluate the quality of a grasp.

Robotiq: Can you think of any improvement to the robotic hand that would help you in your research?

Claudia: The overall performance could be improved by reducing the weight of the hand and speeding up the opening and closing movements, perhaps we'll see these features in the near future!

We are flatter that the MIT team have choose our products to acheive their tasks during the contest. Robotiq Grippers are used in important projects, such as the DARPA challenge by several different teams and apear to be appreciated by their users. We appreciate that different research labs are finding innovative ways to use our Adaptive Grippers. This expands what they are capable of doing and allows us to see what applications work well. To have more info on the uses of the 3-Finger Adaptive Gripper in research, we have put together an interesting document that highlights some of the more impressive projects we have come across. If you have found a unique use for one of our Grippers, please tell us about it. We are curious!

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