Rotary actuators have many uses in automated assembly systems. They orient parts. They operate chutes, close cardboard boxes, or route pallets on a conveyor. With the addition of a gripper, rotary actuators are commonly used in pick-and-place mechanisms. The gripper removes a part from a nest on an indexing dial, the actuator rotates 90 or 180 degrees, and the gripper deposits the part in a bin or another nest.

Or, consider a situation where a manufacturer needs a robot to quickly move parts in and out of a machine. By integrating a rotary actuator with two grippers, the robot can alternately insert unfinished parts and remove finished parts from the machine, or simultaneously grab, reorient and present two parts for further processing without having to let go of them.