SCHUNK eGrip is now in BETA testing before being released to the general public
LUEVEN, Belgium, Oct 10, 2014 – Materialise NV , a leading provider of additive manufacturing software and sophisticated 3D printing services, today announced the result of a recent collaboration with SCHUNK. The German expert for gripping and clamping worked with the Belgian 3D printing pioneer to create SCHUNK eGrip, the world’s first fully-automated design and ordering tool for additive manufactured gripper fingers. SCHUNK eGrip is now in BETA testing before being released to the general public.
SCHUNK eGrip is a browser-based, license-free application to create and order tailor-made gripper fingers in just a few mouse clicks. Users just have to upload STEP or STL data of the part to grip, and add specific information such as weight, gripper base, mounting direction and relative position of the part to the gripper. The software automatically configures the gripper fingers around the part, generating the optimal finger design, and immediately gives price and estimated delivery information.
Speaking about the project, Marcel Nagel, head of product and portfolio management Gripping Systems, commented, “eGrip is a strong example of the innovative ideas you can realize when you combine the core competences of two leaders in their fields – SCHUNK for gripping and clamping and Materialise for 3D Printing software and services. The result of our collaboration is the world’s first fully automated design tools for additive manufactured gripper fingers. What’s more, the browser-based, license-free platform also reduces the design and ordering time for customized gripper fingers to just 15 minutes.”
For this collaboration with SCHUNK, Materialise developed a user-friendly interface that automates the design phase and allows for immediate order placement. SCHUNK eGrip integrates with Materialise’s additive manufacturing automation and control software Streamics and places orders automatically in its certified production for laser sintered polyamide. The fully automated process allows parts to be delivered within a few days. For users, this means a time advantage of several weeks compared to traditional manufacturing techniques.
Bart Van der Schueren, Executive Vice President at Materialise stated, “The platform we’ve created together with SCHUNK saves time and facilitates the gripper finger design and manufacturing process. eGrip is a great example of how we bring our 3D printing software and hardware infrastructure together to add value to people’s work and life. We admire SCHUNK’s dedication to bringing high-quality, innovative solutions to their customers and were proud to help them empower this great idea.”
About Materialise
With its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium, and branches worldwide, Materialise is a provider of Additive Manufacturing (AM) software solutions and sophisticated 3D printing services in a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, automotive, aerospace, art and design and consumer products. Materialise has been playing an active role in the field of AM since 1990, through its involvement in AM for industrial and medical applications, by providing biomedical and clinical solutions such as medical image processing and surgical simulations and by developing unique solutions for its customers’ prototyping, production, and medical needs. For additional information, please visit: www.materialise.com.
