Nowadays, we see many developments in the technology world and on a daily basis new innovation take place while others invented. We will see more Robots over the world in near future. We are near to the robotic era where a different type of robot will do their assigned work, from handling thing in a critical situation such as in oil mining to the human surgeries, and Haptic robots are one of them.
Basically, the haptic robot arm was built in the ’90s only but after that many innovations had taken place in it after the development. Early when the haptic arm was discovered in that the motion of the haptic arm was innovation than touch technology. And now it is transmitting touch data as well as the touch feels to the operator from one geographical location to another which is the major innovation in haptic robot arm till date.
Who developed it?
Shadow Robot Company which is in London and Madrid works on the dexterous robotic hands in collaboration with the other two companies SynTouch in California which works on tactile sensors and HaptX which work on realistic haptic feedback gloves also located in California. They together work on this haptic robot arm and integrate it with different technologies.
The funding for the project by the ANA holding who believes in real-world avatar technology projects, which gives the global avatar to Haptic robot arm project. Thus, this is the world first Haptic robot arm which can transfer the touch data to the operator located in all over the world.
How does it work?
Well, firstly all the technology in the arm integrate, while the motion takes place the data is s by HaptX Gloves which control the movement of the anthropomorphic dexterous hand(Haptic robot arm) develop by Shadow Robot Company. Then, to collect the tactile data the sensor manufactured by the SynTouch’s BioTac is place in the fingertips of the robotic hand. Data is regenerate as haptic feedback by HaptX Gloves and finally, it gets to the operator’s hand.
How testing take place?
During the testing, a team of an engineer is forming. Which includes the members from the SynTouch and HaptX of California and Shadow Robot company from London and Madrid. In testing of the system, a person or we can say operator from California used a haptic glove. To control a robotic hand located in London which was under the supervision of team members from ANA Holdings located in Tokyo.
While going through this, the robot type on a computer keyboard. And the tactile sensors which are on the robot’s fingertips detect the touch of each key and collected the data. Then, data will travel over a network to the human operator which is in California. And he received the haptic feedback in real-time. ” Hello World! ” is the word that was first typed by the robot.
Also, the demo includes some activities such as moving chess piece on the chess board, playing Jenga and building a pyramid from the cups.
what does expert say?
The Co-Director of ANA AVATAR named Kevin Kajitani says within ANA holding that,” This achievement by Shadow Robot, SynTouch, and HaptX marks a significant milestone towards achieving the mission of Avatar X. And this prototype paves the way for industry use, including medicine, construction, travel, and space exploration.”
Even the Managing Director of Shadow Robot Company named Rich Walker compliments that, “This teleoperation system let humans and robots share their sense of touch across the globe. It’s a step ahead in what can be felt and done remotely. We can now deliver remote touch and dexterity for people. So, that they can build on for applications like safeguarding people from hazardous tasks. Or just doing a job without having to fly there! It’s not touch-typing yet, but we can feel what we touch when we’re typing! ”
Syntouch Co-Founder Dr. Jeremy Fishel, ” We know from psychophysical studies that the sense of touch is essential. When it comes to dexterity and manipulation. This is the first time anyone has ever demonstrated a telerobot with such high-fidelity haptics and control. Which is very promising and would not have been possible without the great engineers and technologies from this collaboration.”
Complimenting more Jake Rubin the Founder and CEO of HaptX say that, ” Touch is a cornerstone of the next generation of human-machine interface technologies. We’re honored to be part of a joint engineering effort that is literally extending the reach of humankind.”
Where it will be useful?
Firstly it will be useful where the job is risky for the person. For instance, Nuclear decommissioning, bomb disposal and space exploration. Secondly, it will need where the person is a risk to a job. For example, in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, where human beings can contaminate pharmaceuticals. But, you need a human in the process because there are skill manipulation steps. And last but not least it will be useful where Immersive Robotic Technology is there. Such as, creating a completely personalized travel experience by visiting a destination without flying over there!
Is there early access available?
Yes, you can get the early access as the team will make the system available for an organization. That wishes to research and develop applications using the haptic telerobotics. And make some contribution to humankind. For early access and procedure inquiries, interested companies can contact to this email id contact@shadowrobot.com.
All in all, the haptic robot arm is one of the best innovation. That will be doing in which anyone can feel touch sense which is touch by a robot arm located in different place. Transmit data from different location and others can get real-time data with the touch feel. And that too without affecting the performance in terms of speed, accuracy and without losing data. Even from the major distance such as from one continent to another continent of the world.
