Hamburg-Bergedorf, January 14, 2026 - At Fruit Logistica 2026 from February 4 to 6, 2026, in Berlin, the Fraunhofer Institute for Additive Production Technologies IAPT will present a robot with a flexible gripper arm in Hall 2.1, Booth B-12. The solution automates work steps such as gripping, sorting, and packaging different types of fruit. The collaborative robot works safely with humans and alleviates the shortage of skilled workers.

New cobot for the fruit trade

The Fraunhofer IAPT's collaborative robot – a so-called “cobot” – addresses the shortage of personnel and physical strain in the fruit trade. The cobot supports retailers and their employees in repetitive or strenuous tasks such as sorting and packing fruit. The cobot's silicone gripper and sophisticated sensor technology combine high flexibility with reliable automation of work processes and compliance with safety requirements.

Safety and acceleration through intelligent automation

Fraunhofer IAPT has developed a suction and finger gripper for the cobot and manufactured the component from silicone using additive manufacturing. The material of the silicone gripper is suitable for the automated handling of fragile, pressure-sensitive types of fruit and meets the requirements of the food industry. The combination of several skills, such as suction and gripping of objects in one tool, speeds up processes. There is no need to replace the gripper arm for different work steps or types of fruit.

The cobot's sensor technology supports an adaptive gripping process for irregular shapes and different positions of the fruit. The cobot can be equipped with suitable sensor technology, from simple distance sensors to camera systems, for individual requirements and areas of application. Computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) recognize objects and their position. They control the cobot's movements, for example, for intelligent reactions to the shape, size, and position of fruit.

From entry-level solutions to the expansion of existing robot systems

Fraunhofer IAPT supports companies in identifying their requirements and developing a suitable automation concept, as well as in the design and additive production of the gripping system, the integration of the necessary sensor technology, and the final implementation. Fraunhofer IAPT supplements existing robot systems with grippers that vary in size, number, and shape of fingers as required. AI-supported image processing applications increase the stability and robustness of the automation systems.

Fraunhofer IAPT focuses on the flexibility of the system. Both the gripper and the sensors used for object recognition are tailored to the individual scenario of the fruit trade. Individual components or the entire structure can be used selectively or along the entire process chain.

Cost-effective answers to challenges

With cobots, silicone grippers, and sensor technology, Fraunhofer IAPT provides cost-effective answers to the challenges of the fruit trade – from error-prone automation solutions to unmet staffing needs and physical overload of employees. With decades of experience in research and industrial projects on the industrial use of additive manufacturing, the Fraunhofer IAPT teams develop reliable automation solutions with low complexity and easily accessible technology.