Versatile Variable-Stiffness Scooping End-Effector: Tilting-Scooping-Transfer Mechanism for Objects with Various Properties

To address the setup and changeover time issues in high-mix, low-volume production systems, we developed an end-effector capable of uniformly scooping, holding, and transporting a wide variety of objects, and demonstrated this system with prototype. Our experiments showed that the prototype was successful in scooping up and transporting a wide variety of objects and could be applied to high-mix low-volume production systems. In addition, the load testing of the spatula and modeling of objects that can be tilted backwards provided insight into further improvements of the scooping performance of this mechanism.