Electric Soft Gripper – No Compressed Air Required
Gentle gripping. Fast sorting. No pneumatics.
The G-VAC AS SoftGrip combines our high-speed electric vacuum gripper with the vacuum-actuated piSOFTGRIP® from PIAB.
The G-VAC AS’s integrated vacuum pump directly actuates the gripper fingers. Apply vacuum—the fingers close. Release vacuum—the gripper releases the product.
No compressed air is required.
The result is a compact electric gripping solution for delicate, lightweight, or irregularly shaped products—particularly well-suited for high-speed pick-and-place and sorting processes.
- No compressed air
- No external vacuum generation
- Compact design
- Low moving mass
- Gentle, form-fitting grip
The Real Problem
Soft grippers are an interesting solution when delicate products cannot be gripped with rigid fingers or conventional suction cups.
The piSOFTGRIP® was developed precisely for this purpose: Its flexible silicone fingers wrap around the product, making it suitable even for lightweight, delicate, or geometrically irregular objects.
However, the gripper requires a vacuum to operate.
In traditional automation concepts, this often leads back to pneumatic vacuum generation and thus to:
- Compressed air supply
- Ejector or central vacuum generation
- Valves and tubing
- Additional energy consumption
Especially with compact and highly dynamic robotic systems, this effort isn’t always practical.
The Solution
The G-VAC AS brings vacuum generation directly to the gripper.
Its integrated electric vacuum pump generates the vacuum needed to close the piSOFTGRIP®. To set the product down, the system reopens and the gripper releases the product
This transforms a vacuum-operated soft gripper into a completely compressed-air-free gripping solution. vollständig druckluftfreie Greiflösung.
This is particularly advantageous in applications where low mass and compact dimensions determine the dynamics of the entire robotic system.
For Fast Pick-and-Place Processes
Less weight on the robot flange means less moving mass.
This is particularly beneficial for delta robots and other highly dynamic pick-and-place systems that pick up, sort, and set down products with short movements.
Typical applications include:
- Food sorting
- Packaging processes
- Pick-and-place of fruits and vegetables
- Baked goods and confectionery
- Delicate plastic parts
- Light consumer goods
- Products with varying or irregular geometries
System Properties
- Fully electric actuation without compressed air
- Local vacuum generation directly at the gripper
- piSOFTGRIP® soft gripper from PIAB
- Low weight of the G-VAC AS at approx. 190 g
- Compact design
Technical classification
The G-VAC AS SoftGrip is not a new gripper drive.
It combines two existing principles in a different way:
The piSOFTGRIP® gently grips the workpiece mechanically. The G-VAC AS generates the necessary vacuum directly at the gripper and controls it.
This allows a gripping principle that requires vacuum for operation to be used without a pneumatic infrastructure..
A peripheral concept originally designed for pneumatic operation is thus transformed into a compact electric gripping unit.
Evaluate Your Application
Which soft gripper is suitable and how fast a specific process can be run depends on the product, geometry, weight, and desired cycle time.
We evaluate your application using the actual product and work with you to select the gripper, vacuum level, and process configuration.