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Vacuum grippers versus robot hands - Matthew T. Mason

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There is an unfortunate myth, that vacuum gripping requires a seal. Some vacuum systems do require a seal, but not all. In fact, you probably have some in your own home — your vacuum cleaner, DustBuster, Roomba, and Shop-Vac all pick things up without a seal. True, the usual vacuum cleaner is tuned for picking up tiny things, but if you have played with a Shop-Vac you know it can do more. In fact, the winners of the first Amazon Picking Challenge used a Shop-Vac-style vacuum source. Investors are spending billions of dollars to develop humanoid robots, including anthropomorphic robot hands. Believers say the robot hands will do everything human hands can do. But this is an ambitious goal. For example, the number one wear point will be the fingertip skin, with thousands of embedded touch sensors. In human hands this problem is managed by constant self-repair, renewing the skin as it wears, from the inside. Will the robots be repairing themselves from the inside? Doubtful. Another thing.

There is an unfortunate myth, that vacuum gripping requires a seal. Some vacuum systems do require a seal, but not all. In fact, you probably have some in your own home — your vacuum cleaner, DustBuster, Roomba, and Shop-Vac all pick things up without a seal. True, the usual vacuum cleaner is tuned for picking up tiny things, but if you have played with a Shop-Vac you know it can do more. In fact, the winners of the first Amazon Picking Challenge used a Shop-Vac-style vacuum source. Investors are spending billions of dollars to develop humanoid robots, including anthropomorphic robot hands. Be

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