Contactless handling of objects

A method for contactless handling of an object within a surrounding fluid medium, said method comprising:

• establishing a flow of a pickup fluid between a manipulator surface and at least a portion Of a surface of said object;
• creating a pressure differential between said surrounding fluid medium and said flow of pickup fluid in a lowúpressure zone associated with said manipulator surface;
• flowing said pickup fluid over a first flow surface, said first flow surface being located so as to at least substantially coincide with the low-pressure zone and being dimensioned such that a lateral extent of said first flow surface extends to at least a maximal lateral limit of the low-pressure zone;
• disrupting a build-up of mechanical vibrations in said object outside the lateral extent of said first flow surface by flowing said pickup fluid over a vibration attenuation surface comprising at least one material capable of converting at least a substantial part of a kinetic energy of a mechanical impact into another form of energy.

A pickup device comprising:

• a pickup face;
• and
• an orifice in the pickup face, the orifice operative to introduce a fluid flow between the pickup face and a surface of an object;
• wherein the pickup face comprises:
• a substantially planar first surface extending outwardly from a perimeter of the orifice;
• and
• an outer surface extending outwardly from the first surface to a perimeter of the pickup face, the outer surface comprising a plurality of sharp ridges having sharp edges in a plane of the first surface.

A pickup device comprising:

• a pickup face;
• and
• an orifice in the pickup face, the orifice operative to introduce a fluid flow between the pickup face and a surface of an object;
• wherein the pickup face comprises:
• a smooth substantially planar first surface extending outwardly from a perimeter of the orifice, an outward extent of the first surface approximately five times greater than an outward extent of the orifice;
• and
• an outer surface extending outwardly from the first surface to a perimeter of the pickup face, the outer surface comprising one or more vibration attenuation features.

A method for handling an object in a surrounding fluid medium, the method comprising:

• providing an orifice in a substantially planar pickup face;
• ejecting fluid from the orifice;
• allowing the fluid to flow outwardly from the orifice between a smooth portion of the pickup face and a surface of the object for a distance of approximately five times a diameter of the orifice;
• the flow of fluid creating a pressure differential between the surrounding fluid medium and a low-pressure zone located between the pickup face and the surface of the object;
• allowing the fluid to continue to flow outwardly over one or more vibration attenuation features in an outer surface of the pickup face, the outer surface extending outwardly from the first surface to a perimeter of the pickup face.