Innovative GRIP-tape Robotic Gripper Uses Steel Measuring Tape to Reach Objects, Pick Fruits and Veggies

Engineers at UC San Diego unveil an innovative GRIP-tape (Grasping and Rolling In-Plane) robotic gripper designed for delicate tasks like picking fruits and vegetables. It has two “fingers,” each made from two rolls of steel measuring tape bound together with adhesive, forming a spool.

These robot fingers stretch out and pull back like a measuring tape, moved by four motors in each finger so they can work on their own. Why use measuring tape? It’s tough but bendy, springy enough to curve and snap back to shape, and thin so it won’t hurt delicate things. It’s as soft as the silicone in many gentle robots, perfect for grabbing fragile fruits without leaving marks. Plus, it’s strong and cheap, which makes it really practical.

Each finger extends in a triangle shape from a compact spool, allowing it to reach objects farther away or retract to pull them closer. The entire tape works like a gripping tool—it can curl around stuff or move it along like a rolling belt. It’s able to turn things, slip past barriers, and place items into containers.

It’s built for farming, where it gently grabs things like lemons, oranges, tomatoes, or whole vines without squashing them. Beyond fields, it can handle tasks like twisting in light bulbs or wielding a screwdriver, proving it’s handy for all sorts of work. Its people-friendly design means it’s perfect for teaming up with humans.

We like to look for non-traditional, non-intuitive robot mechanisms. The tape measure is such a wonderful structure because of its combined softness and stiffness together,” said Nick Gravish, the paper’s senior author and a faculty member in the UC San Diego Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

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