This is one of the earliest compliant grippers. By pulling the shorter vertical segment on the left towards the longer vertical bar, the gripper jaws come together. This demonstrates the principle of distributed compliance. It is one of the benchmark examples used in topology optimization of compliant mechanisms. It was also used for shape optimization.

Xu, D. and Ananthasuresh, G.K., “Freeform Skeletal Shape Optimization of Compliant Mechanisms,” ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, Trans. ASME, Vol. 125, (June 2003), pp. 253-261.