The Festo HPSX universal adaptive gripper is a hygienic soft gripper designed to handle delicate, irregularly shaped and hygiene-sensitive products. Its fingers are made from a soft silicone-based material for moving items that can be easily damaged. HPSX can perform multiple picks per second.
The design of this pneumatic gripper improves on traditional rigid gripping solutions and addresses challenges in automating tasks in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, where avoiding product damage is important. The gripper withstands acceleration up to 15 g-force while holding up to 1.1 lbs (0.5 kg).
The HPSX is corrosion resistant and uses a sanitary design for easier cleaning and maintenance. It is rated IP69K for high-pressure washdown, supporting food safety and cleanliness requirements. The materials are food grade and metal-detectable.
The HPSX all-in-one gripper can handle a range of shapes and sizes without a tool change, which supports applications such as cosmetics kitting where one gripper may pick up multiple products. The HPSX is available in three sizes, 1.6, 2.8 and 4 inches (40 mm, 70 mm and 100 mm), and in two-, three- and four-finger designs. Nine forms expand its application range. The HPSX includes a universal ISO50 fitting for robotic end-of-arm tooling.
Festo research and development refined the gripper’s shape, dimensions and internal geometry to increase gripping force and reduce air volume for faster picking. The material was selected to be soft enough to avoid damage while remaining firm enough to grasp objects and handle required acceleration.
The HPSX works with other Festo automation components, including controllers, valves and pneumatic systems. Using components from one supplier can reduce installation and programming time since the OEM does not need to address compatibility across different vendors.
Having a single point of contact for automation needs can simplify troubleshooting, maintenance and support. For OEMs and end users, this can help reduce downtime and improve day-to-day operations. The ISO50 universal fitting makes HPSX compatible with more systems and allows it to mount easily to existing robotic arms.
For more information, visit festo.com.
Filed Under: Robotics • robotic grippers • end effectors
