A Bernoulli grip uses airflow to adhere to an object without physical contact. Such grippers rely on the Bernoulli airflow principle

Bernoulli's principle

In fluid dynamics, Bernoulli's principle states that for an inviscid flow, an increase in the speed of the fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure or a decrease in the fluid's potential energy...

. A high velocity airstream has a low static pressure

Static pressure

In fluid mechanics the term static pressure has several uses:* In the design and operation of aircraft, static pressure is the air pressure in the aircraft’s static pressure system....

. With careful design the pressure in the high velocity airstream can be lower than atmospheric pressure. This can cause a net force on the object in the direction normal to the side with lower local pressure. A Bernoulli gripper takes advantage of this by maintaining a positive pressure at the gripper face compared to the ambient pressure, while maintaining an air gap between the gripper and the object being held.

Applications

Commercially available Bernoulli grips are commonly used to handle rigid sheet like material such as silicon wafers

Wafer (electronics)

A wafer is a thin slice of semiconductor material, such as a silicon crystal, used in the fabrication of integrated circuits and other microdevices...

 in circuit board

Printed circuit board

A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...

 manufacturing, or photovoltaic cell

Solar cell

A solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....

 components. Since the grip is contactless, this form of gripping lends itself to handling sterile material

Sterilization (microbiology)

Sterilization is a term referring to any process that eliminates or kills all forms of microbial life, including transmissible agents present on a surface, contained in a fluid, in medication, or in a compound such as biological culture media...

 to prevent chemical and/or biological contamination

Contamination

Contamination is the presence of a minor and unwanted constituent in material, physical body, natural environment, at a workplace, etc.-Specifics:"Contamination" also has more specific meanings in science:...

. Research has been done into using Bernoulli grippers to transport sample sheet foodstuffs

Food

Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...

 in a food processing

Food processing

Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...

 context, although this work found difficulties as the flexible foods would vibrate

Vibration

Vibration refers to mechanical oscillations about an equilibrium point. The oscillations may be periodic such as the motion of a pendulum or random such as the movement of a tire on a gravel road.Vibration is occasionally "desirable"...

against the gripper, deforming and alternately blocking the gripper or and being blown away from the airway.
The Bernoulli grip is also being investigated as a non-contact adhesion mechanism for wall climbing robots.