TECH OFFERS

With the global trend of industrial automation, robotic arm technology is being developed and integrated to existing business workflow, increasing labour productivity and operational efficiency. However, current end effectors attached to robotic arm excels in automation tasks of handling homogeneous robust objects but fall short in handling irregular, fragile objects. Current robotic grippers (end effector) lack the finesse and limberness required, limiting their usage in particular areas such as agriculture, F&B, pharmaceutical and logistics. The technology solution developed is a smart soft robotic gripper as a modular end effector that addresses the challenge of handling objects with varying sizes, shapes, and weights, an issue unsolved by traditional robotic grippers. This innovative gripper tool mimics the flexibility and versatility of biological structures like tendrils, enabling an extra dimension of growth and twining capabilities. By wrapping itself securely around objects, the gripper manipulates items gently, minimizing the risk of crushing or damaging them. Its integrated sensors provide real-time contact feedback capabilities, enabling precise monitoring and adaptive control by the robotic system. The technology owner is seeking collaborative partners, such as system integrators or end-users, who are in need and keen to integrate a versatile, adaptive, and gentle handling solution that can operate efficiently in environments where object fragility or irregularity is a key concern. The smart soft robotic gripper module comprises of three key components: flexible fingers, actuation system and sensor integration. A novel concept is introduced for a flexible finger, utilizing a single tendon within a flexible body to perform three-dimensional bending and twisting motions. This design enhances the gripper’s adaptability, allowing it to handle objects with various shapes, sizes, and weights, with current payload exceeding 10kg. The integration of vision and haptic sensors further refines its capabilities to provide gentle and precise manipulation of delicate items. Additionally, the sensor integration supports potential applications in sensor fusion and IoT systems, expanding its utility across advanced automation environments like smart farms and smart factories. With its modular design, it enables customisation and scalability to integrate into existing robotic systems. Handling of Food (urban farming, food and beverages) The gripper solution can gently handle delicate crops like bunches of vegetables and irregularly shaped fruits, which can facilitate automated harvesting or processing with minimal damage. Its adaptability makes it potentially suitable for smart farms where precision and adaptability are essential. A pilot test for harvesting automation is currently being conducted in an urban farming application. Smart Factories (warehousing, manufacturing) The gripper solution is able to handle a variety of fragile and odd-shaped product, providing flexibility to environments of heterogenous items. The technology also enables safe handling of items, promoting industrial automation of delicate assemblies and improving assembly precision. Pharmaceuticals (medical device, procedures) The gripper tool can handle sensitive medical devices and products to minimise or prevent damaging during handling. The tool is able to provide additional assistance to medical personnel for more delicate medical procedures, reducing discomfort while increasing precision. The smart soft robotic gripper is bio-inspired and mimics natural organism, like octopus arms, to enhance navigation and interaction with their surroundings. This results in an extra dimension of flexibility and versatility to handle intrinsic nonlinearity of soft, delicate, heterogenous materials. The integrated sensors enable situational awareness capabilities, providing adaptability and enhancing precision. Lastly, the modular design provides customisability to specific use-cases, with the gripper being able to be scaled to suit the operational needs. Soft Gripper, Smart Gripper, End Effector, Soft Robotic Gripper Electronics, Actuators, Manufacturing, Assembly, Automation & Robotics, Foods, Processes

Cutting-edge researchers are developing mobile robots that can engage with individuals in ever-changing surroundings, where constant physical interaction occurs with people and the environment. The design of robots for physical Human-Robot Interaction is an exceptionally demanding task, as it necessitates the incorporation of highly responsive and self-aware movement, strong torque capabilities, and agility, all while ensuring dependable and safe operation. The robotic actuators presented here offer high dynamic efficiency and control bandwidth to enable the creation of agile and efficient robots. These actuators incorporate electric motors that produce high torque with greater efficiency, aiming to achieve human-tier capable robots for physical Human-Robot Interaction. The technology involves the development of higher torque electric motors with lower power consumption and weight. These are integrated into robotic actuators with high dynamic efficiency allowing smoother and easier speed control. These actuators enable responsive and self-aware movement, strong torque capabilities, and agility, ensuring dependable and safe operation for robots engaging in physical interaction with people and the environment. Specifications: Rated torque: 3.7 Nm @ 2 A, 48 VDC Peak torque: 12.5 Nm @ 14 A, 48 VDC Max speed @ Rated torque: 450 rpm @ 48 VDC Max speed @ Peak torque: 180 rpm @ 48 VDC Human-Robot Interaction actuators and electric motors have potential applications in various fields such as healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, and service industries. It can be used to create advanced mobile robots capable of interacting with individuals in dynamic environments, assisting with tasks that require physical interaction and adaptability. Unparalleled dynamics: The actuator has an integrated 5:1 mechanical transmission, which allows it to boast best-in-class response, easier control, and impact absorption capacity.  Integrated Proprioception: It is fitted with a proprietary torque sensor capable of measuring external torques at a resolution down to 0.1 Nm.  Tailor-made digital products: The digital twin based design process allows faster response based on customer needs. The proprietary mechanical transmission has been designed to be inherently safe in the event of external torque overload. This improves physical safety of users and bystanders, whilst avoiding permanent damage to the actuator. The actuator is also available in different configurations to allow easier integration with existing solutions. Plug-and-Play version. This version comes with CNC-machined structural components made of 7075-T6 aluminium. An anodized layer ensures maximum electrical protection and wear resistance. High-precision, single-row, steel bearings provide an axial/radial load capacity of 1000N/1000N. Frameless version. This provides the strictly necessary - stator and rotor with a convenient mechanical interface for seamless integration. Robotics, Actuator, Human-Robot Interaction, Humanoid Electronics, Actuators, Manufacturing, Assembly, Automation & Robotics, Infocomm, Robotics & Automation

The Reconfigurable Workspace Soft Gripper (RWSG) is a bio-inspired, pneumatically actuated, shape morphing soft robotic gripper that is capable of rapid reconfigurability. It features passive retractable nails, bi-directional foldable petals, and a flexible palm to adapt to various grasping and manipulation tasks and requirements. The ability to rapidly reconfigure allows the RWSG to grasp a wide range of large, thin, hard, delicate, and deformable objects. These capabilities make the RWSG a uniquely advantageous tool for high mix low volume manipulation and packing scenarios such as food assembly, packaging of groceries, and packing of consumer electronics. The RWSG features retractable nails to help in precision grasping of small, thin, and high aspect ratio objects. An optimized bidirectional finger flap design allows its fingers to morph into scoop-like shapes to easily manipulate granular and semi liquid items such as grains, jelly, stews, curries or scrambled eggs. A multi-material palm design helps regulate the RWSG’s aperture to adapt for large or wide objects. The RWSG utilizes low, safe pressures (-80kPa to 60kPa) to switch between and operate the various grasping modes. High mix low volume manipulation tasks for consumer goods, logistics, and food industries can benefit from advanced robotics to meet evolving demands in productivity, safety, and sustainability. These sectors often require manipulation and grasping capabilities that cannot be achieved by conventional robotics using rigid grippers or end-effectors. The RWSG can provide reliable and safe robotic handling of a wider range of objects in these challenging scenarios using its adaptive capabilities. With the ability of handling a wider range of objects, RWSG automation setups can help reduce changeover times (less or no tool changes required), improve safety (humans are not required any longer for manipulation in hazardous environments), and even contribute towards sustainability (less overall resources required). The RWSG has a unique structure that allows robust and safe grasping of a wide range of large, thin, hard, delicate, granular, and deformable objects. Its structure is composed of food safe, hypoallergenic silicones that can tolerate both high and low temperatures. These unique features far surpass the capabilities of traditional rigid grippers and end-effectors. The RWSG can be seamlessly integrated with all major cooperative manipulators currently available in the market. Soft Robotics, End Effector, Robotics, 3D Printing Electronics, Actuators, Infocomm, Robotics & Automation

This innovative wearable device, integrating an actuator and a sensor, addresses a pressing issue in the field of neuromuscular disease diagnosis and management. By enabling in vivo measurements of muscular elasticity and employing machine learning models for disease severity evaluation, it offers an objective and accessible solution. The wearable conforms to the human body, facilitating quantitative assessments by correlating elastic moduli with voltage amplitude, thereby eliminating the subjectivity of traditional assessments. It significantly enhances accessibility, breaking down barriers to muscle assessment, and introduces a remote monitoring capability that allows continuous tracking of muscle health during rapid joint stretches. This technology serves medical professionals, patients with neuromuscular diseases, and rehabilitation centers by providing a reliable tool for improved diagnosis and personalized treatment plans. In summary, this wearable device represents a transformative approach to assessment of muscle-related pathophysiological conditions, offering objectivity, accessibility, and remote monitoring, ultimately enhancing the quality of care and treatment outcomes. The core components of the system include a pneumatic actuator for controlled mechanical force generation, a piezoelectric sensor to measure muscle response, and integrated machine learning models for disease severity evaluation. The system is designed to seamlessly conform to the human body, its wearability ensures patient comfort and enables a point of care continuous monitoring of muscle health, a groundbreaking advancement in the field of muscular biomechanics assessment.  This technology offers a wide array of potential applications spanning various industries. In the healthcare sector, it can help with the diagnosis and treatment of neuromuscular diseases and find use in tele-rehabilitation programs. Athletes and sports professionals can benefit from improved performance and injury prevention. This technology could help in creating customized rehabilitation equipment designed for specific patient needs and conditions, making the recovery process more effective and personalized. Routine muscle health assessments can be realized, promoting proactive healthcare management across the board. The booming wearable market and recent advances in material science has led to the rapid development of the various wearable sensors, actuators, and devices that can be worn, embedded in fabric, accessorized, or tattooed directly onto the skin. Wearable actuators, a subcategory of wearable technology, have attracted enormous interest and many wearable actuators and devices have been developed in the past few decades to assist and improve people’s everyday lives. In addition, The global diagnostic wearable medical devices market size is estimated to grow by USD 7,333.3 million at a CAGR of 15.2% between 2022 and 2027. (Source: Technavio). The system provides a substantial improvement over the current state-of-the-art in muscular biomechanics assessment. Unlike existing methods that are either subjective and qualitative or hindered by bulky, stationary instruments, this system introduces a precise, objective, and patient-friendly solution. Its wearability, facilitated by a soft textile-based cuff, enables point-of-care assessments and home-based monitoring, dramatically enhancing accessibility and convenience. Furthermore, with dynamic movement analysis it can providing valuable insights into muscle behaviour during real-world activities, a dimension largely unexplored by current techniques. These position the system as a transformative technology, poised to revolutionize the diagnosis and management of neuromuscular diseases and expand the horizons of muscular biomechanics assessment.  soft robotics, sensor, wearable, soft actuator, muscle, muscle assessment, neuromuscular assessment, biomechanics, neuromuscular diseases, actuator, wearable sensor, skin sensor Electronics, Sensors & Instrumentation, Actuators, Healthcare, Diagnostics, Medical Devices

The conventional DC brushless motors face the challenge of reduced output when their size is reduced to achieve a smaller product, as well as the difficulty of precise control according to the load. A unique solution to these problems would be the use of compact, high-power DC brushless motors with vector control technology. These current issues contributed to the product developers in the creation of more compact and lightweight products that offer improved performance and increased functionality by responding to load-specific characteristics. With vector control technology, these motors provide precise control over motor speed and torque, resulting in enhanced efficiency and reduced energy consumption. The benefits of using these motors include improved product design, increased functionality, and greater efficiency The technology offer comprises of two portions of the motor internal structural design and the use of vector control technology to maximize the performance of the overall system.  These unique motors control system offers a reliable and effective solution to the challenges faced by conventional DC brushless motors. The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration and licensing out the know-how to a variety of applications such as robotics, electric vehicles, and industrial automation systems.    The main features of the technology offer are: 1. Compact and lightweight: The motor's compactness and high-power output are achieved by improving the space factor using split iron core structure Ability to achieve about 40% reduction in physical size of motor while maintain the power output Weight of the motor can achieve reduction of about 25% Output power increased by upto 60% compared to the similar-sized motors 2. Precision drive control according to load fluctuations by vector control: The motor can be controlled to the optimum speed and torque according to the load by monitoring the motor load from the individual current values across the three phases. Optimum drive control can achieve 10% increase in working speed and 15% increase in workload 3. Environmental resistance performance: Waterproof and dustproof performance equivalent to IP56, making it suitable for machine tools and equipment used outdoors. The technology offer can be customised and adopted in various application that uses compact brushless DC motors, such as: Personal Mobility: Electric bicycles Electric kickboards Electric baby car Material Handling: Automatic guided vehicles (AGV) Electric power-assisted trolleys Personal and Commercial Automation: Electric doors Platform screen doors Electric garage gates Non-residential automatic doors Electric reels for fishing Automatic cleaning robots Electric massage chairs Industrial and Manufacturing: Machine tools (drill press, NC lathe, screw fastener, drill machine) Power tools The split stator core structure of the motor allows it to be smaller and lighter without compromising its ability to handle increased power output. This feature enables products that use the motor to maintain their performance while becoming more compact and lightweight. Alternatively, the motor can be used to enhance the product's performance without increasing its size. Furthermore, the motor's high-function control system allows it to adjust its performance based on the load. For instance, it can control the number of revolutions or stop according to the load. This capability enables the addition of new product features, which can lead to increased functionality and versatility. Additionally, the motor's robustness against water and dust makes it suitable for products used in harsh environments, such as outdoor settings. This feature enhances the durability and reliability of the product and extends its lifespan. The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration and licensing out the know-how to a variety of applications developers such as robotics, electric vehicles, and industrial automation systems.    brushless DC motor, compact motor, vector control, load detection, split stator core, waterproof motor, dustproof motor, power tools Electronics, Actuators, Power Management