How Soft Robotic End Effectors Are Reshaping Food and Ag Tech

As the agricultural and food packaging industries face rising labor costs and a push toward automation, a new class of robotic end of arm tooling is emerging: soft robotic end effectors.

Designed to mimic the dexterity and gentleness of the human hand, these flexible tools are revolutionizing how robots interact with fragile produce like berries, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Traditional EOAT styles often fail in such applications—too rigid, too forceful, or too narrowly optimized. That’s where soft robotic EOAT excels.

Why Traditional EOAT Falls Short In Food Automation

Conventional end effector styles like parallel-jaw or vacuum grippers may work well for uniform items in structured environments, but they're often too harsh or imprecise for handling soft, irregular produce. This challenge is especially evident in agriculture, where variability in size, shape, and ripeness makes automation difficult.

In the study Soft Gripper for Small Fruits Harvesting and Pick and Place Operations (Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 2023), researchers designed and tested a 3D-printed soft gripper specifically for fruit handling. They found that traditional rigid EOATs struggled with bruising and alignment, whereas their soft alternative offered gentler contact and better shape conformity.

Design Innovations in Soft End Effectors

Soft EOATs typically use pneumatic or elastomeric structures that bend and conform to the object being grasped. This flexibility means the robot doesn't need perfect visual alignment or advanced object modeling—making them particularly well-suited for unstructured environments like farms or mixed-size food processing lines.

A review published in Machines (MDPI, 2023) explored the common structural and actuation designs used in agricultural soft grippers. It categorized EOATs into tendon-driven, pneumatic, and hybrid systems and discussed how these influence their adaptability, force control, and ease of cleaning—all essential considerations for food-grade tools. Companies like Festo have taken inspiration from nature to develop innovative soft robotic systems. Their Bionic Learning Network has produced grippers such as the Adaptive Shape Gripper DHEF, modeled after a chameleon’s tongue. This gripper can conform to a wide variety of object shapes and sizes, making it ideal for the unpredictable forms found in agricultural products. These biomimetic designs prioritize gentle, adaptive handling—critical for soft fruit, baked goods, or irregular vegetables—while also supporting easy integration into food-grade applications [3].

Applications in Real-World Ag Environments

Soft end effectors are now being tested and deployed for:

• Fruit harvesting (strawberries, apples, grapes)

• Vegetable sorting (tomatoes, mushrooms)

• Delicate product packaging (baked goods, wrapped produce)

In the Frontiers study, the team demonstrated successful use of their soft gripper in strawberry harvesting, citing reduced damage and better success rates compared to rigid alternatives. The MDPI review also pointed out successful deployments in tomato and apple picking, where pneumatic fingers adjusted to each fruit’s size dynamically.

Price Considerations and Trade-offs

Compared to rigid EOATs, end effector prices for soft robotic tooling can be higher upfront due to more specialized materials and custom fabrication (e.g., silicone molding, pneumatic systems). However, they can save costs downstream by reducing product damage and allowing automation where manual labor was previously required.

While exact pricing varies, soft EOATs generally fall in these ranges:

• Basic open-source or 3D-printed soft grippers: ~$300–$800

• Commercial agricultural soft grippers with pneumatic control: $2,000–$10,000+

These numbers align with findings from both Frontiers and MDPI sources, where 3D printing and thermoplastic elastomers were cited as cost-effective, scalable options.

Future Outlook and Research Directions

According to both Application of Soft Grippers in the Field of Agricultural Harvesting (MDPI, 2023) and Soft Gripper for Small Fruits (Frontiers, 2023), the main development areas include:

• Improving payload capacity for larger produce

• Enhancing repeatability in open-field conditions

• Integrating machine learning for adaptive force control

These innovations aim to expand the application of soft EOATs from small-scale specialty farms to large industrial operations.

Conclusion

As automation advances into industries that were once thought too variable or fragile for machines, soft robotic EOAT is bridging the gap. These flexible robot end effector solutions offer new end effector styles that can grasp delicate items without damage—something traditional robotic end of arm tooling has long struggled to achieve. And while end effector prices remain a factor, the reduced waste, improved reliability, and new possibilities for automation are proving well worth the investment.