Exohand From Festo Gets To Grip Of Things

 Robotics

The ExoHand from Festo is an exoskeleton that can be worn like a glove. The fingers can be actively moved and their strength amplified; the operator’s hand movements are registered and transmitted to the robotic hand in real time. The exoskeletal hand has all the principal physiological degrees of freedom of its human counterpart. It thus supports the human hand’s diverse techniques for grasping and handling objects.

Worn like a glove, the ExoHand from Festo is designed to double the gripping power of the hand that's wearing it. German automation company Festo says it could make factory work more efficient and help stroke sufferers use their hands again.

For visitors at the Hanover Trade Fair, the ExoHand has been a highlight. According to Festo spokesman Heinrich Frontzek, it's an intriguing example of what future automation will look like.

"First of all the ExoHand is a glove which one slips into. And at the back of the glove there is a special power booster built in (the glove). That is done with little air cylinders that give power to every single finger through pressured air that is blown into it. Through that we can reach a doubling of the grip force." says Heinrich Frontzek, of Festo.

The key to the technology is air pressure. Sensors in the glove detect finger movement and send instructions via a computer algorithm to eight pneumatic actuators that move the mechanical fingers. Frontzek says the fingers and thumb can be opened and closed with the same degree of precision as a human's, giving the ExoHand multiple uses.

The ExoHand uses eight double-acting pneumatic actuators on each finger to simulate the nearly full range of human finger movement. Each joint in the finger can be positioned to perfectly match what the operator is doing. Because of this, the ExoHand can accomplish delicate tasks that less precise graspers and claws cannot.

"The ExoHand was created in order to assist the demographic change in society, people are getting older, and the ExoHand can be used as a power booster in the work process." Principally, Festo sees factory assembly lines as the ideal environment for the ExoHand.

But the company says that when connected to a brain-computer interface, the hand can also help stroke patients suffering from paralysis to regenerate the damaged connection between the hand and the brain. Each ExoHand is customised to fit, using a 3D scan of the wearer's hand.




SOURCE  Reuters

By 33rd Square

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