New software allows industrial robots to achieve touch sensitivity and precision close to human hands

Eureka Robotics, a tech spin-off from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), has developed a technology, called Dynamis, that makes concern robots nimbler and astir arsenic delicate arsenic quality hands, capable to manipulate tiny solid lenses, electronics components, oregon motor gears that are conscionable millimeters successful size without damaging them.

This proprietary unit feedback exertion developed by NTU scientists was antecedently demonstrated by the Ikea Bot which assembled an Ikea seat successful conscionable 20 minutes. The breakthrough was archetypal published successful Science successful 2018 and went viral connected the net erstwhile it could lucifer the dexterity of quality hands successful assembling furniture.

NTU Associate Professor Pham Quang Cuong, Co-founder of Eureka Robotics, said they person since upgraded the bundle technology, which volition beryllium made disposable for a ample fig of concern robots worldwide by Denso Wave, a marketplace person successful industrial robots, which is portion of the Toyota Group.

Clients purchasing the latest robots sold by Denso Wave volition person an enactment to see this caller exertion arsenic portion of the unit controller, which reads the unit detected by a unit sensor connected the robot's wrist and applies unit accordingly: Apply excessively small unit and the items whitethorn not beryllium assembled correctly portion applying excessively overmuch unit could harm the items.

Mastering interaction sensitivity and dexterity similar quality hands has ever been the beatified grail for roboticists, says Assoc Prof Pham, arsenic the programming of the unit controller is highly complicated, requiring agelong hours to cleanable the grip conscionable for a specific task.

"Today, Dynamis has made it casual for anyone to programme touch-sensitive tasks that are usually done by humans, specified arsenic assembly, good manipulation, polishing oregon sanding," explains Assoc Prof Pham, who is besides the lawman manager of the Robotics Research Centre astatine NTU's School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

"These tasks each stock a communal characteristic: the quality to support accordant interaction with a surface. If our human hands are deprived of our interaction sensitivity, specified arsenic erstwhile wearing a heavy glove, we would find it precise hard to enactment tiny Lego blocks together, overmuch little assemble the tiny components of a car motor oregon of a camera utilized successful our mobile phones."

Hiroyasu Baba, FA/Robotics Business Unit Product Planning Department, Manager of Denso Wave, said: "Due to its precocious basal show and openness, DENSO robots are the preferred prime by companies and universities with precocious initiatives successful the tract of robotics. NTU Singapore and Eureka Robotics person besides been utilizing DENSO robots for this reason.

"Because of this relationship, associated improvement began naturally, and we were capable to motorboat this merchandise smoothly. The technology, which volition beryllium installed successful DENSO robots, is simply a exertion for force feedback, which is becoming much and much important successful the applicable usage of robotics. Thanks to the improvement capabilities of Eureka Robotics, the strategy is advanced, yet casual to usage and airy capable to beryllium integrated into our modular robot controllers."

How the caller bundle works

Known arsenic Force Sensor Robust Compliance Control, the caller bundle powered by Dynamis requires lone a azygous parameter to beryllium set—which is stiffness of the contact, whether it is soft, medium, oregon hard.

Despite its elemental set-up, it has been shown to out-perform accepted robotic controllers which required an tremendous magnitude of expertise and clip to fine-tune.

Dynamis is simply a analyzable artificial quality (AI) algorithm developed by Assoc Prof Pham and his erstwhile Ph.D. student, present Co-founder and CTO of Eureka Robotics, Dr. Hung Pham.

This backbone exertion was further improved and was archetypal deployed successful Eureka's custom-built robots, specified arsenic Archimedes, which tin grip fragile optical lenses and mirrors with human-like dexterity, present utilized by aggregate companies worldwide.

Current robots successful the marketplace person either precocious accuracy but debased agility (where robots execute the aforesaid movements repeatedly specified arsenic successful a car factory), oregon debased accuracy but precocious agility (such arsenic robots handling packages of antithetic sizes successful logistics).

By deploying this technology, robotics engineers tin present imbue robots with some High Accuracy and High Agility (HAHA) connected a ample scale, paving the mode for concern applications that were antecedently precise hard oregon intolerable to implement, specified arsenic handling and assembly of delicate, fragile objects specified arsenic optical lenses, electronics components, oregon motor gears.

To beryllium equipped with the Force Sensor Robust Compliance Control capability, the ample fig of robots already moving connected Denso Wave's RC8 controllers volition lone beryllium required to execute a elemental bundle update from December 2021 onwards, portion recently shipped RC8 controllers volition travel packed with the bundle disposable for activation.

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