Soft Robotics in the Real World: 3 Industry Innovations Driving EOAT Forward

In the race to automate delicate, variable tasks in agriculture and food packaging, traditional grippers often fall short. Their rigid structure and limited adaptability can’t keep up with the soft, inconsistent, or irregular nature of many natural products.

That’s why the latest robotic EOAT (end of arm tooling) solutions are drawing inspiration from biology—and making waves in industrial settings.

Here are three standout innovations in soft robot end effector technology that highlight how modern end effector styles are evolving to meet real-world demands.

1. Festo’s Bionic Grippers: Nature-Inspired EOAT

Festo, a leader in industrial automation, has developed a line of bionic grippers through its Bionic Learning Network. One of its flagship innovations, the Adaptive Shape Gripper DHEF, mimics a chameleon’s tongue, wrapping around an object rather than clamping onto it. This natural movement allows the gripper to handle a variety of shapes and textures with minimal force—ideal for fragile food items.

This is a textbook case of how advanced robotic end of arm tooling can be reimagined for unpredictable, high-speed environments like food processing lines. These grippers reduce product damage, boost cycle time, and require less precise alignment—solving key challenges in automation.

2. Soft Robotics' mGrip: Packing with a Gentle Touch

The mGrip platform by Soft Robotics takes a modular approach to soft grippers, giving users the ability to configure fingers and spacings for their specific application. This flexibility means one tool can handle a wide range of SKUs without tool changes—making it perfect for food packing, e-commerce, and consumer goods sectors.

From a practical standpoint, this reduces the need to constantly reconfigure equipment and makes it easier to implement across seasonal product lines. And though end effector prices vary by configuration, companies typically see rapid ROI due to labor savings and improved throughput.

The mGrip exemplifies a modern end effector style that blurs the line between flexibility and specialization. It's also a great example of how new end effector types by application—specifically, in packing environments—are broadening what's possible with robotic automation.

3. ROSE: A Wrinkle-Based Gripper Built for Agriculture

Researchers recently introduced ROSE (ROtation-based Squeezing grippEr), a soft gripper designed to harvest crops without bruising or damaging them. Its innovation lies in a wrinkling-based gripping mechanism—rather than clamping directly, ROSE conforms to the object’s surface through controlled deformation.

This development shines a light on the future of robotic EOAT in the agricultural sector.

Traditional robot end effector models have long struggled to adapt to the soft, uneven surfaces of fruits and vegetables. ROSE brings a new kind of intelligence and adaptability to the table—especially for use in the field, where variance is high and precision is hard to maintain.

While still in the research phase, tools like ROSE show how end effector types are expanding beyond industrial floors to tackle outdoor, open-environment tasks. As these designs evolve and scale, end effector prices are expected to drop, opening up high-tech automation to smaller farms and producers.

Final Thoughts

Whether it’s Festo’s biomimetic grippers, Soft Robotics’ plug-and-play systems, or ROSE’s flexible harvesting approach, the latest wave of robotic end of arm tooling shows how fast the landscape is changing. These innovations reflect a growing demand for smarter, softer, and more adaptable solutions across industries.

As new end effector types by application emerge, manufacturers and integrators will need to keep up—not just with the tech, but with the broader implications on cost, flexibility, and production design. The good news? The future of robot end effector technology looks gentler, smarter, and far more capable than ever before.