Jan 23, 2014 6:30 AM

Gallery: A Beanbag Robot Hand That Works Insanely Well

Photos by Empire Robotics
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The $4,000 Versaball embodies the latest in robotics theory, but is essentially a lime green balloon filled with industrial-grade granules.
Photos by Empire Robotics
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The green blob presses itself against an object and deforms around it and a pump sucks the air out of the balloon, locking down on the object.

Photos by Empire Robotics
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Within a tenth of a second, Versaball can seize anything from tiny Lego bricks to shards of broken glass and can easily handle objects that weigh up to 20 pounds.
Photos by Empire Robotics
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For many objects, the ball envelops a portion of the object, creating a stronger mechanical grasp.

Photos by Empire Robotics
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Early prototypes were crude—test grippers were filled with everything from coffee grounds to hummus—but effective.
Photos by Empire Robotics
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"It's a smart place to start with biological solutions—millions of years of evolution went into the human hand, and it's the best gripper we know," says Versaball inventor John Amend. "It's hard, but occasionally we do stumble on with ideas that are competitive with nature, like the wheel."

Photos by Empire Robotics
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There are 300,000 small and medium-sized manufacturers in the US that could use automated robots and Versaball's flexibility make the bulbous 'bot a good bet.

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