Intelligent gripper with individual cup control

A method of selectively activating cup assemblies of a robotic gripper, the method comprising:

• applying a vacuum pulse to each of the cup assemblies;
• determining for each of the cup assemblies, while the vacuum pulse is applied to the cup assembly and using one or more pressure sensors, a pressure measurement for the cup assembly, wherein the pressure measurement comprises a rate of change of a pressure signal measured by the one or more pressure sensors and/or a peak pressure value of a pressure signal measured by the one or more pressure sensors;
• and
• selectively activating one or more of the cup assemblies based, at least in part, on the determined pressure measurements for the cup assemblies.

A robot, comprising:

• a robotic gripper including a plurality of individually controllable cup assemblies;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• apply a vacuum pulse to each of the cup assemblies;
• determine for each of the cup assemblies, while the vacuum pulse is applied to the cup assembly and using one or more pressure sensors, a pressure measurement for the cup assembly, wherein the pressure measurement comprises a rate of change of a pressure signal measured by the one or more pressure sensors and/or a peak pressure value of a pressure signal measured by the one or more pressure sensors;
• and
• selectively activate one or more of the cup assemblies based, at least in part, on the determined pressure measurements for the cup assemblies.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by at least one processor perform a method of selectively activating cup assemblies of a robotic gripper, the method comprising:

• applying a vacuum pulse to each of the cup assemblies;
• determining for each of the cup assemblies, while the vacuum pulse is applied to the cup assembly and using one or more pressure sensors, a pressure measurement for the cup assembly, wherein the pressure measurement comprises a rate of change of a pressure signal measured by the one or more pressure sensors and/or a peak pressure value of a pressure signal measured by the one or more pressure sensors;
• and
• selectively activating one or more of the cup assemblies based, at least in part, on the determined pressure measurements for the cup assemblies.