Fin Ray soft gripper (printed)
Fingers with a ribbed triangular structure that curl around an object when pushed into it. No sensors, no control loop, and it picks up a tomato and a wrench with the same finger.
The role it plays
The end effector is what the task actually touches and it usually deserves more thought than the arm. Grasping divides into force closure (fingers), form closure (soft, compliant) and adhesion (vacuum, magnetic). Soft hands for variety, parallel jaws for speed, vacuum for flat non-porous parts.
Typical use: Produce handling, food, research on compliant grasping.
What the numbers actually mean
The headline figure is TPU 95A (printed) (material), with single linear actuator or servo as the next most load-bearing number (actuation). At $20 in the end effectors tier it sits cheap enough to prototype with and replace without regret, which is the correct way to learn a new subsystem.
How it compares
Same subsystem, closest alternatives. The primary spec column is usually the one that decides it.
| Part | Price | Primary spec | Second spec |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fin Ray soft gripper (printed)Compliant gripper | $20 | TPU 95A (printed) | single linear actuator or servo |
| Robotiq 2F-85Adaptive parallel gripper | $5.8k | 85 mm (0 – 85 mm opening) | 20 – 235 N adjustable |
| Robotiq Hand-ECompact parallel gripper | $4.7k | 50 mm | 20 – 185 N |
| Vacuum ejector + suction cupsPneumatic gripper | $150 | -60 to -90 kPa (venturi ejector) | 10 – 100 mm bellows or flat |
| Electro-permanent magnetic gripperMagnetic gripper | $300 | 100 – 1000 N (size dependent) | ferrous only |
Where it shows up
It is a component-level choice rather than a defining part of a named platform — pick it for the subsystem it serves, not to match a reference build.