Diego Misseroni, a professor at the University of Trento, has secured European funding for his "Flexgrip" project. The goal is to create a new form of scalable robotic gripper inspired by origami designs. Exploiting the shapes and kinematics of origami structures, the fundamental concept is to create a universal gripper that is capable of grasping and moving objects of varying sizes, made of a variety of materials (both rigid and soft), and with complex geometries. This approach pioneers the overcoming of some of the current limitations in robotics. The invention concerns the gripper, which is fitted at the end of the mechanical arm and, more importantly, can automatically conform to the objects being moved. The system takes advantage of origami geometry and combines it with materials and metamaterials designed to create extreme and adaptive mechanical properties. Misseroni's invention has already attracted the interest of two companies: an Italian company specializing in industrial automation and a Swedish technology company that employs "industrial origami" to fold sheet metal with robotic precision.