Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a robotic gripper inspired by measuring tape. Named GRIP-tape (for Grasping and Rolling In-Plane), these innovative grippers are ideal for agricultural applications, capable of gently handling fragile produce. Unlike existing bulky counterparts, GRIP-tape is robust yet flexible, easily retracting into a compact form and reaching far when extended. Published in Science Advances, this design seeks non-traditional solutions to common robotic issues, providing a low-cost and safe alternative for human interaction.
It’s a game a lot of us played as children -- and maybe even later in life: unspooling measuring tape to see how far it would extend before bending. But to engineers at the University of California San Diego, this game was an inspiration, suggesting that measuring tape could become a great material for a robotic gripper.
The team published their process and design in the journal Science Advances on April 9, 2025. They call their robot GRIP-tape, with GRIP serving as an acronym for Grasping and Rolling In-Plane.
The grippers would be a particularly good fit for agriculture applications, as their extremities are soft enough to grab fragile fruits and vegetables, researchers wrote. The devices are also low-cost and safe around humans.
We like to look for non-traditional, non-intuitive robot mechanisms. The tape measure is surprisingly adaptable and can solve some of the existing issues with robotic grippers.
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