Evaluating end-effector modalities for warehouse picking: A vacuum gripper vs a 3-finger underactuated hand

Zakary Littlefield, Shaojun Zhu, Hristiyan Kourtev, Zacharias Psarakis, Rahul Shome, Andrew Kimmel, Andrew Dobson, Alberto Ferreira de Souza, Kostas E. Bekris

Abstract: This paper studies two end-effector modalities for warehouse picking: (i) a recently developed, underactuated three-finger hand and (ii) a custom built, vacuum-based gripper. The two systems differ on how they pick objects. The first tool provides increased flexibility, while the vacuum alternative is simpler and smaller. The aim is to show how the end-effector influences the success rate and speed of robotic picking. For the study, the same planning process is followed for known poses of multiple objects with different geometries and characteristics. The resulting trajectories are executed on a real system showing that, under different conditions, different types of end-effectors can be beneficial. This motivates the development of hybrid solutions.