Industrial Technology

At the robot end of arm tool (EOAT), excess weight slows motion, continuous vacuum wastes compressed air, and undetected grip loss leads to dropped parts and unplanned downtime. Many pneumatic systems at the end of arm still fall short on all three functions. The Festo VTUX valve terminal addresses these issues. The VTUX is a modular valve terminal that integrates pneumatic control, vacuum generation, and I/O into a single platform mounted at the point of actuation. New eco functions and a multiprotocol interface extend that platform with lower air consumption, improved grip visibility, and simpler integration. On the vacuum side, VTUX uses threshold-based control to generate vacuum only when needed. Instead of continuous air consumption, the system maintains vacuum within defined limits and only consumes air when levels fall outside those limits. This reduces compressed air use by up to 20-30% while maintaining a stable grip.