Rethink Robotics Introduces ClickSmart Family of Gripper Kits

Rethink Robotics Large Vacuum Gripper Kit. (Image courtesy Rethink Robotics.)

Rethink Robotics recently announced the ClickSmart series of smart end-of-arm tooling and gripper kits, providing manufacturers with a full robotic solution right of the box.

The ClickSmart Plate wrist toolplate allows users to swap end effectors quickly by hand and without any tools. Embedded sensors in five new gripper kits enable intelligent grasping and smarter part handling on Rethink Robotics’ Sawyer robot powered by the Intera 5 software platform.

The ClickSmart gripper kit contains components that allow end users to construct end effectors for most automatable tasks, saving time in setup, programming and part sourcing for faster deployment.

The gripper kits are available in large pneumatic, small pneumatic, large vacuum, small vacuum and foam vacuum options. These gripper kits and the ClickSmart Plate include embedded sensing, gripper recognition and the ability to access actuators and sensors through Rethink Robotics’ software platform.

Rethink Robotics' intelligent plate makes switching between end effectors possible to do by hand and without tools. (Image courtesy Rethink Robotics.)

The ClickSmart Plate also has an embedded memory module, which stores the configuration of the attached end effector. When the ClickSmart Plate is attached to any Sawyer robot, the robot will immediately recognize the type of end effector and how to control it, with no programming needed.

Rethink Robotics intends for the ClickSmart family of gripper kits to reduce sourcing efforts for manufacturers by eliminating the need to search through catalogs to select components and compare prices.

“Never has a robot manufacturer offered a single source solution for fully integrated deployments,” said Scott Eckert, president and CEO of Rethink Robotics.

Rethink Robotics describes the customizing of end effectors to be a significant pain point for end users, as it requires specialized expertise in mechanical design, signal configuration and task flows that manufacturers may not have on staff.

“Flexible robots and tooling in today’s manufacturing environment are needed to provide efficiency and application differentiation in this ever-changing automation landscape,” said Phil Shaltz, president of Shaltz Automation. “These grippers allow more flexibility to switch tooling between applications.”

The ClickSmart series will be available for purchase beginning in May 2017. For more information, visit the Rethink Robotics website.