Vine-Like Gripper Could Help Caregivers, Elderly

Engineers at MIT and Stanford University have developed a vine-inspired gripping mechanism that could be used to gently lift people who require physical assistance. This robotic approach uses vine-like coils inflated at high pressure, causing them to extend in a predefined pattern, twist around, and create a gentle yet firm grip that's perfect for careful lifting.

The researchers used their proof-of-concept design to lift a variety of objects, including a watermelon and a glass vase. In each case, the grippers caused no damage to the objects they lifted and handled them with surprising care. That's what has the developers excited: The gripper could be perfect for lifting people out of bed or for augmenting humanoid robots' capabilities.

The system is built almost entirely around pneumatic tubes that expand when air pressure is applied. Because they coil in a predefined pattern, the developers can define the closed and open ...