What’s your first instinct when it comes to choosing between a vacuum or mechanical gripper? When I’m beginning a new project, my clients will often insist on the latter. However, in my experience, the value of the vacuum gripper is undersold and the concerns are more often than not…unfounded!When deciding between a vacuum or mechanical option, it’s an important step to consider all the alternatives and how they would impact on your specific application. Of course, if you are handling extremely fragile and expensive products then some apprehension is warranted. But in many cases choosing to use vacuum over a mechanical gripper is a great decision …here’s why:• Vacuum is quicker than mechanical grippers – allowing faster robot rates.• Few moving parts equals easier to maintain.• Often less expensive than a custom designed gripper.• Reliability is extremely high. • Intelligent vacuum systems can pick up different shaped objects which provides plenty of flexibility.• Self closing valves on the grippers can detect the size of the object being picked up and can close off unused ports, allowing for savings in air and reduction in noise.We spoke with David Shanahan, the Victorian Sales Manager from Romheld Automation to explore the benefits of vacuum a little further. In David’s line of work, he has the opportunity to create and witness the success stories involving vacuum solutions and wholeheartedly agrees that deciding on the vacuum option is a most valid choice. Romheld Automation distributes one of the original and well proven vacuum grippers…the UniGripper. As David explains, “The Unigripper is known as an ‘Intelligent’ vacuum gripping system because it can detect when a part is underneath it and turn on only that section of the gripper. In Australia, UniGripper’s have been installed in the timber, brick and paving, automotive, packaging and food industries.”Available as a standard modular unit or as a fully customised solution designed to suit any automation solution, the UniGripper excels where conventional vacuum cup grippers can prove unreliable, for instances, when exposed to variation in part presentation. The UniGripper has the ability to operate with partial gripper coverage allowing greater flexibility on the production line. The UniGripper is a very easy to maintain and reliable alternative for any vacuum gripper application and could be the perfect factor in ensuring your automation solution works for you.Robotize showcased a selection of robotic material handling solutions at the recent Melbourne Materials Handling Show, held on Tuesday 20 - Thursday 22 April 2010 at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.We were thrilled to have David Shanahan from Romheld Automation attended the Robotize stand each day to demonstrate the UniGripper and to answer questions about Romheld Automation’s vacuum solutions.Article by Wade Leslie, Robotize Pty Ltd