End Effectors / On-Orbit Assembly & Servicing
Conformal Gripper
Product Features
Honeybee Robotics is developing a concept (based on an invention by John Vranish of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center) for an end effector that can grasp and manipulate objects of varying size and shape. End effectors are typically designed for very specific tasks and therefore tend to be limited in the range of objects they can accommodate. Honeybee’s work on the Conformal Gripper is to determine the feasibility of using one end effector to softly grasp and manipulate objects within a wide range of sizes and geometries.
The gripper consists of two fingers that are made of plate-like structures, each of which has an array of spring-loaded pins. As the two plates move over an object, the pins compress and conform to the shape of that object in three dimensions. Once the object is fully within the end effector’s grasp the pins are locked in place. This allows the end effector to maintain a secure yet gentle grasp on the object. The development of this gripper is geared towards applications like Hubble Space Telescope robotic repair and other on orbit operations.