DHEF adaptive shape gripper by Festo receives iF, Red Dot awards

Adaptive shape gripper DHEF: like a chameleon’s tongue, it reliably grasps irregular, round, and sensitive objects. Festo’s gripper won the internationally acclaimed iF Design Award and Red Dot Design Award for this extraordinary gripping concept.

Festo Canada offers the unique DHEF adaptive shape gripper, which works like a chameleon’s tongue as it grasps work pieces – picking, gathering, and placing objects of various shapes with no manual changeovers required. This device is so innovative that it recently won two of the most prestigious awards in the automation industry: The iF Design Award and the Red Dot Design Award.

The iF Design Award and the Red Dot Design Award are among the most important design prizes in the world, and the DHEF is worthy of their recognition.

Flexible, with no sharp edges

The iF Award honours design achievement in disciplines from packaging to architecture, while the Red Dot Award recognizes the peak of design in business. The silicone cap of the DHEF can fold itself over and grip objects of virtually any shape with a firm, form-fitting hold. The elastic silicone allows the gripper to adapt to many geometries, and it needs minimal energy for secure grips when used with a pneumatic drive.

The DHEF has a high flexibility unlike other mechanical grippers, which can only grip certain components. With no sharp edges, this adaptive shape gripper can handle air nozzles, trim strips, and other sensitive objects; in principle, it can even pick up several components simultaneously. The DHEF is ideal for small parts in classic machine building, electronics, automotive applications, supply units for packaging installations, human-robot interaction during assembly, or prosthetic extensions in medical technology.

As the company has done with many other innovations, the Festo Bionic Learning Network has used nature as its model when designing the DHEF – in this case, a chameleon’s tongue. When this animal hunts for insects, its tongue shoots like a rubber band, and the tip retracts in the middle as the edges keep moving forward just before it reaches the insect. This is how the tongue adapts to the size and shape of prey and encloses it firmly. The DHEF employs this exact principle.

For a peek at the DHEF in action, check out the video below:

To learn more, contact Festo.

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