Separating thin, flexible layers that must be individually grasped is a common but challenging manipulation primitive for most off-the-shelf grippers. A prominent example arises in clinical settings: the opening of sterile flat pouches for the preparation of the operating room, where the first step is to separate and grasp the flaps. We present a novel gripper design and opening strategy that enables reliable flap separation and robust seal opening. This capability addresses a high-volume repetitive hospital procedure in which nurses manually open up to 240 bags per shift, a physically demanding task linked to musculoskeletal injuries. Our design combines an active dented-roller fingertip with compliant fingers that exploit environmental constraints to robustly grasp thin flexible flaps. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed gripper reliably grasps and separates sealed bag flaps and other thin-layered materials from the hospital, the most sensitive variable affecting performance being the normal force applied. When two copies of the gripper grasp both flaps, the system withstands the forces needed to open the seals robustly. To our knowledge, this is one of the first demonstrations of robotic assistance to automate this repetitive, low-value, but critical hospital task.

翻译：分离必须单独抓取的薄而柔韧的层状物，对于大多数现成的夹持器而言，是一种常见但具有挑战性的操作基础任务。一个突出的例子出现在临床环境中：为手术室准备无菌平袋时，其第一步便是分离并抓取袋子的翻盖。我们提出了一种新颖的夹持器设计和开启策略，能够可靠地实现翻盖分离和稳健的封口开启。该能力针对的是一项医院内高重复性、大工作量的流程：护士每班次需手动开启多达240个袋子，这是一项与肌肉骨骼损伤相关的体力要求很高的任务。我们的设计结合了一个主动式带齿滚轮指尖和顺应性手指，利用环境约束来稳健地抓取薄而柔韧的翻盖。实验表明，所提出的夹持器能够可靠地抓取和分离密封袋翻盖以及医院环境中的其他薄层材料，其中影响性能的最敏感变量是所施加的法向力。当两个相同的夹持器分别抓取两个翻盖时，该系统能够承受稳健开启封口所需的力量。据我们所知，这是机器人辅助自动化这一重复性、低价值但关键的医院任务的首次演示之一。