Imagine a remotely operated robot hand that imitates the movements of an operator exactly -- picking up objects and manipulating them, perhaps in environments too dangerous for people to work in. Or an exoskeleton that prevents repetitive stress injury.
The ExoHand, from Festo, a German company, may one day do just that. It's an exoskeletal system designed to provide greater strength and dexterity to the user, showcased at a recent trade show in Hanover.
External actuators boost the grip strength of the wearer, and a software algorithm controls the position of the joints. And the ExoHand can do more than make a person's grip strong -- it can also transmit the motions of the wearer in real time to a robot, with a silicone hand fitted where a human one would ordinarily be.
One thing the ExoHand has is feedback -- the operator gets a sense of the pressure exerted on the object grasped. That makes remote operation a lot more precise -- one has a "feel" for the object that isn't there with traditional remote-controlled robot graspers.
Though it is still inthe proof-of-concept stage, it's a big improvement on the claws or mechanical graspers common in robotics and automated systems, as it duplicates the movements of fingers and can grab things more delicately. It's also better than a traditional glove box for handling objects that might be dangerous where more room is needed to operate.
The ExoHand might one day be used in factories where people do repetitive tasks -- by assisting the wearer it reduces the strain on muscles. It could also show up in physical therapy, not unlike the Ekso, an exoskeleton designed for paraplegics.
No comments:
Post a Comment