MOTORS, DRIVES & CONTROLS
HANDS T
The world in its
Grasping the next generation of robotics
he Amazon Picking Challenge, set by global online retailer Amazon, challenged roboticists to create a robot that
can pick and stow 12 products from a shelf, into a bag. The Shadow Robot Company, designer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art anthropomorphic robot hands, looked to address the challenge with the help of precision bearing specialist, SMB Bearings. Sounds simple, right? Well Amazon
set this challenge because this is the only area of its warehousing process that isn’t currently mechanised, due to the sheer variety of objects to be packed. This presents a gap in robotics for a smart grasper that is able to recognise and pick Grasping is a problem for many
industries, not just picking up an object – but grasping it well and ensuring that
The new smart grasping system
each grasp is correct for the object that’s being picked. “More and more I’ve had people come up to me asking how we can improve robotic grasping,” says Rich Walker, managing director at The Shadow Robot Company. “The market is pushing us to improve the technology.” Standard industrial grippers are
built to pick up one thing, move it and grippers to perform the task. Modern manufacturers are increasingly diverse;
up with demand. There is a need for tooling that is easily adaptable to pick The robot engineers at the Shadow
Robot Company have had plenty of experience manufacturing dextrous robotic hands for academia and nimble work, but this type of robot isn’t suitable for industrial applications. Instead, they looked to create a robust and reliable Smart Grasping System, with the intelligence to recognise appropriate grasp. As part of the design process, the
very tight tolerances in dimensional accuracy. This is important for ease of installation and accuracy of the smart grasper’s movements. So, the team contacted SMB Bearings.
EZO precision bearings were used 46
www.engineerlive.com
PRECISION BEARINGS Based on the requirements of this unique project, SMB Bearings recommended and supplied EZO thin- type precision bearings.
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