Soft picking tools for pick and place robotic systems

A pick and place robotic system, comprising:

• a soft picking tool, comprising:
• a body made of an integrated piece, the body comprising:
• a plurality of stiff fingers located on a distal end of the body, and
• a portion of a single soft-walled cavity configured to be deformed by application of a positive or negative pressure in the single soft-walled cavity, leading to a motion of the plurality of stiff fingers in response to the deformation of the single soft-walled cavity, from a rest position, towards or away from a medial axis of the soft picking tool;
• and
• one or more embedded fingertips, wherein at least one of the plurality of stiff fingers comprises an embedded fingertip embedded on its distal end, and wherein each of the plurality of stiff fingers is configured to not touch another of the plurality of stiff fingers at any level of pressure applied inside the single soft-walled cavity.

A soft picking tool for a pick and place robotic system, comprising:

• a body made of an integrated piece, the body comprising:
• a plurality of stiff fingers located on a distal end of the body, and
• a portion of a single soft-walled cavity configured to be deformed by application of a positive or negative pressure in the single soft-walled cavity, leading to a motion of the plurality of stiff fingers in response to the deformation of the single soft-walled cavity, from a rest position, towards or away from a medial axis of the soft picking tool;
• and
• one or more embedded fingertips, wherein at least one of the plurality of stiff fingers comprises an embedded fingertip embedded on its distal end, and wherein the motion of the plurality of stiff fingers from the rest position is a gripping motion that occurs only towards the medial axis of the soft picking tool.