Design of a Multifunctional Pick & Place Gripper for Palletizing and Handling Cardboard Boxes and Europallets

European industry wants to respond in good time to the demands of the European market, and the world market in general. These responses must consider the changes taking place in the industry, considering possible updates to its production lines and methods. Increasing production capacity, renewing lines and adapting production methods often lead to the integration of robotic systems both in the production phase and in packaging, i.e. in the palletizing. Adopting this type of solution at the final stage of the process will significantly increase the quality with which products are handled and packaged. The aim of this work is to present a solution for handling cardboard boxes and palletizing them on a europallet. The gripper developed is designed to handle cardboard boxes and standard pallets in a multidisciplinary manner, regardless of their positioning. Its integration into a robotic system solves not only the problems of repeatability, but also the associated ergonomic problems, increasing productivity and consequently the success of the organization. The incorporation of different technologies has led to the development of functional and reliable equipment capable of performing multiple tasks.