Robotic grasping of items in inventory system

An inventory management system, comprising:

• a station comprising:
• a picking area configured to receive an inventory holder carrying an inventory item;
• a grasping area comprising a tray and one or more sensors;
• a robotic arm;
• a release area configured to receive a box;
• a packing area;
• and
• a transfer mechanism configured for moving the box from the release area into a position accessible from the packing area;
• a management module configured to:
• instruct movement of the inventory item from the inventory holder to the tray;
• receive information from the one or more sensors about a detected set of characteristics of the inventory item received in the tray;
• access information from an item grasping database about grasping strategies for inventory items having characteristics in common with the detected set of characteristics of the inventory item;
• determine, based at least in part on the accessed information, a grasping strategy for the inventory item using the robotic arm;
• instruct, based on the determined grasping strategy, the robotic arm to grasp the inventory item from the tray in the grasping area, move the inventory item to the release area, and release the inventory item in the box positioned in the release area;
• instruct movement, by the transfer mechanism, of the box containing the inventory item from the release area to the position accessible from the packing area;
• and
• instruct removal of the box containing the inventory item from the packing area.