Evaluation of handling results of various materials using a non-contact end-effector

Abstract

A non-contact end-effector was applied to lift three different materials which have different physical properties. These materials are mica (as rigid material), carton (as semi-rigid material) and non-rigid material (woven fabric). This end-effector operates on the principle of generating a high-speed air flow between nozzles and the specimen surface thereby creating a vacuum which levitates the materials with no mechanical contact. In this paper, the handling results of these materials are compared with each other. The changes in the physical behavior of lifting materials were observed during the experimental work. The effect of the various air flow rates on the non-contact handling clearance gap between the nozzle and the materials were also investigated. As a result, it was observed that the non-contact end-effector could be applied to handle different flat materials.