Regrasping on Printed Circuit Boards with the Smart Suction Cup

The disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) presents a sustainability challenge, par- ticularly for waste printed circuit boards (PCBs). PCBs are challenging to sort out from other waste materials in part because traditional industrial end-effectors struggle to reliably grip these irregularly shaped objects with unmodeled surface- mounted components. Vision-based separators, while effec- tive for object categorization, face challenges with identifying precise grasp points on PCB surfaces. This paper studies regrasping control to enhance suction cup grasping perfor- mance on PCBs, addressing issues arising from uneven surfaces and intricate features that interfere with suction sealing. We categorize PCBs into two recycling levels – with large surface features intact or removed – and conduct experiments on both stationary and conveyor belt setups with realistic vision-based grasp planners. Results show that jumping regrasping improves pick-and-place success rate. Haptically driven jumping – using the Smart Suction Cup – is especially useful for unprocessed waste PCBs with large surface mount parts. The proposed method offers a promising solution to enhance the efficiency and reliability of robotic grasping in recycling applications.