Pneumatic or servo? Choosing the right gripper for your automated laboratory process

The demand for speed to market requires thatmanufacturers today are pneumatic grippers.
drug discovery, biotechnology and clinicalThese low-cost end-of-arm tools are cost
diagnostics labs work faster, more accurately andeffective and have the ability to produce and
more efficiently than in the past. Increasingly, labmaintain considerably more force than servo
technicians and scientists seeking greater levels ofgrippers. While more expensive, servo grippers
automation are turning to gripper solutions thatare necessary when more control is required for
mechanize what have traditionally been manualmore delicate and complex assembly and handling
and mundane tasks, allowing them to work onapplications.
more value-added activities.Servo grippers, with their human-hand-like design,
Currently, a wide variety of pneumatic and servooffer greater degrees of freedom and are
grippers are available, each with its own set ofappropriate for many medical applications. With
unique attributes. It is critical that manufacturersthe added expense of servo grippers,
select the appropriate gripper for their process.manufacturers need to carefully analyze their
By understanding the specific advantages ofneeds in order to make an educated decision on
servo and pneumatic grippers, life scientists canwhich gripper to design into their workcell. Applied
make smarter choices in selecting the best toolRobotics, Inc., a global supplier of end-of-arm
for any given application--as well as maximize thetooling solutions, conducted a thorough
benefits in accelerated research and developmentcomparative analysis and has formulated the
processes, reduced human error, increasedfollowing application questions based on flexibility,
volumes of sample tracking and improved sterilecontrol and environmental requirements to help
conditions.manufacturers make that decision.
The majority of grippers utilized by