Al, good question, but the company did not divulge price. You're right, it does look like some pretty sophisticated and high-quality technology. OTOH, this is designed for highly automated manufacturing lines and medical apps, so one could guess that it may be reasonably priced within those parameters.
Ann, Any idea if the cost of this technology will hold it back in terms of applications? It offers a great many benefits but the mechanical design alone seems to be quite complex along with integration of many actuators and sensors. Very interesting technology.
bobjengr, I've had friends and associates who've suffered from carpal tunnel and while none have made that dramatic a statement, I can believe the level of your friends' agony. The ExoHand is designed to make those repetitive tasks easier (or even possible) and to prevent conditions like carpal tunnel from developing in the first place.
Bob, I do agree with you that the Festo hand could be used in the application of alleviting carpal-tunnel syndrome in manufacturing. I can remember the number of carpal-tunnel cases announced weekly when I worked as a Plant Electrical Enginner for GM Auto plant in Ypsilanti,MI in the late 1980s. The material in the article was excellent.
TJ, You're right about the diversity of the applications that might not have commercial appeal. Although the smart bird, for example, reminds me of technology that might be used at Disney. Big market for motion control solutions in theme parks and entertainment venues
Excellent article and a fascinating subject.I work in an industry in which carpal-tunnel syndrome seems to be the norm and not the exception.I have friends who have undergone surgery to repair tendons damaged from the syndrome and some have told me there were times when the pain was so great they considered amputation.(I know that's hard to believe but there were more than a few.)This device could possibly provide some method to mitigate (and alleviate) pain associated with repetitive movement during assembly processes.I feel the overall concept is excellent and definitely worth pursuing.Festo has always been on the cutting edge relative to pneumatics so maybe they really have something here.
You're very correct in your observation about controlling pneumatic actuators midspan. I have accomplished this with a fair degree of accuracy both in the vertical plane & the horizontal plane. It's NOT easy, but with powerful processors & some due diligence, it can be done. At least I've done it with several designs, which have been working well for several years without any creep or change due to wearing components.
OLD_CURMUDGEON, thanks for your real-world input on the company's components. It's also worth noting that, aside from their products, another main focus for the company is their Bionic Learning Network, which is biomimicry R&D in cooperation with universities and other research entities.
Rob, based on what I've seen that DARPA and other military agencies are doing in robotics R&D, I wouldn't be surprised if that already exists, at least on paper.
UK-based Plastic Logic and French company ISORG have created what the pair tout as a first in flexible printed electronics: a large area, conformable, organic image sensor printed on plastic.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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