This is an old thread but I stumbled across it while doing a Google search to see if there was a better gripper than what I had come up with. With 3D printing now widely available to help create custom project cases, I decided to turn my old CNC mill (which I used to mill connector openings in commercial plastic project cases) into a pick and place machine. As has been described here, I too raby DaveHarper - Pick-and-Place Electronic Assembly (and robots!)