A YouTuber known as Tazer built a desktop-sized robot arm with limited picking-up ability, so he decided to improve its functionality by adding a pneumatic gripper.
The gripper consists of a silicone bladder split into two sections, with a non-stretch fabric inserted into the structure to limit expansion on one side.
When the bladder is inflated, it folds around the object to be picked up securely; it can then be deflated to release the object.
Tazer was able to cast the bladder using 3D printed moulds and created a manifold to control the inflow and outflow of air using a 3D printer.
The robot arm is now much more effective at lifting small objects.
