SoftGripping Cuts Food Robot Gripper Costs in Half With 3D Printing

SoftGripping Cuts Food Robot Gripper Costs in Half With 3D Printing

German robotics company SoftGripping GmbH has used EOS selective laser sintering to redesign a pneumatic gripper base for food production robots. The single 3D-printed part replaces what used to be four separate components, cutting manufacturing cost by 50% and development time by 75%.

The gripper base handles delicate items like vegetables and dough balls on automated food lines. Its job is simple: hold the silicone gripper fingers and route compressed air to them. In a conventional design, that meant separate brackets, connectors, seals, and pneumatic tubing. Each joint was a potential leak point and a hygiene risk in a food environment.

Integrating Air Channels Into the Part Itself

By switching to SLS with EOS PA 2200 nylon, SoftGripping integrated the pneumatic air distribution directly into the base structure. Complex internal channels replace external tubing and fittings. Chemical smoothing gives the part a smooth, airtight surface that meets food industry standards.

The design went through several FDM prototypes before the team moved to SLS for the final end-use part. That iterative process let SoftGripping test gripping distances, contact points, and air routing before committing to production tooling.

Faster Development, Lower Cost, Fewer Parts

The final part went from concept to working prototype in three weeks. The same design using subtractive manufacturing would have taken closer to 12 weeks. Manufacturing cost dropped by half because there are no external connectors to buy, assemble, or inspect.

Alexey Stepanyuk, CTO of SoftGripping, said the integrated air routing would not have been possible with conventional methods. "The combination of design flexibility, complex internal air routing, and airtightness is a major advantage for our customized solutions," he said. "Additive manufacturing gives us the freedom to design gripper components around functionality and application requirements."

The project shows how SLS can move beyond prototyping into functional food-grade production parts, where hygiene, airtightness, and part count all matter.