Electro-permanent magnetic gripper
Holds steel parts with no air and no fingers, and an electro-permanent design keeps holding after power is cut — which is the safety property that matters.
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: Steel sheet handling, press tending, scrap.
What the numbers actually mean
The headline figure is 100 – 1000 N (size dependent) (holding force), with ferrous only as the next most load-bearing number (material). At $300 in the end effectors tier it sits as a capital purchase. At this price you are buying documentation, repeatability and support as much as metal, and the integration cost is usually larger than the part.
How it compares
Same subsystem, closest alternatives. The primary spec column is usually the one that decides it.
| Part | Price | Primary spec | Second spec |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electro-permanent magnetic gripperMagnetic gripper | $300 | 100 – 1000 N (size dependent) | ferrous only |
| 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 |
| Fin Ray soft gripper (printed)Compliant gripper | $20 | TPU 95A (printed) | single linear actuator or servo |
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.