Universal Gripping and Suction Chuck

Proposed is a universal gripping and suction chuck for use as an interchangeable end effector of a robot arm of a robotic station capable of picking up, transporting, and handling objects having colors and outlines. The chuck housing contains elements of a vacuum system for holding the object by vacuum suction force, a vortex system for holding the objects in a non-contact manner in a state of levitation, and a mechanical edge gripper. The vacuum system, the vortex system, and the mechanical edge gripper can be selectively activated by commands from the central processing system that receives a signal recognition signal, object presence/absence signal and/or object approaching signal from respective sensors and depending on the type of the object recognized by the respective sensor. As a result, the chuck can pick up and handle such different objects as solid semiconductor wafer, paper or fabric interleaves, or small-diameter rings.