section_path: Mechanical robotics areas/Sensing/Suction end-effectors
section_name: Suction end-effectors
paragraph_text: Suction end-effectors
  
  Suction end-effectors, powered by vacuum generators, are very simple astrictive devices that can hold very large loads provided the prehension surface is smooth enough to ensure suction.
  
  Pick and place robots for electronic components and for large objects like car windscreens, often use very simple vacuum end-effectors.
  
  Suction is a highly used type of end-effector in industry, in part because the natural compliance of soft suction end-effectors can enable a robot to be more robust in the presence of imperfect robotic perception. As an example: consider the case of a robot vision system that estimates the position of a water bottle but has 1 centimeter of error. While this may cause a rigid mechanical gripper to puncture the water bottle, the soft suction end-effector may just bend slightly and conform to the shape of the water bottle surface.