A Robot With Finger-Tip Sensitivity !!

Two arms, three cameras, finger-tip sensitivity and a variety of facial expressions -- these are the distinguishing features of the pi4-workerbot. Similar in size to a human being, it can be employed at any modern workstation in an industrial manufacturing environment. Its purpose is to help keep European production

Dr.-Ing. Dragoljub Surdilovic, head of the working group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK in Berlin, says: "We developed the workerbot to be roughly the same size as a human being." Which means it can be employed at any modern standing or sitting workstation in an industrial manufacturing environment.

The robot is equipped with three cameras. A state-of-the-art 3D camera in its forehead captures its general surroundings, while the two others are used for inspection purposes. The workerbot can perform a wide range of tasks. Matthias Krinke, Managing Director of pi4-Robotics, the company that is bringing the workerbot onto the market, explains: "It can measure objects or inspect a variety of surfaces." To give an example, the robot can identify whether or not the chromium coating on a workpiece has been perfectly applied by studying how light reflects off the material. Krinke adds: "If you use two different cameras, it can inspect one aspect with its left eye, and another with its right." Moreover, the workerbot is also capable of inspecting components over a continuous 24-hour period -- an important advantage when precision is of the utmost importance, such as in the field of medical technology, where a defective part can, in the worst case scenario, endanger human life.

Another distinctive feature of the pi4-workerbot is that it has two arms. "This allows it to carry out new kinds of operations," says Surdilovic. "These robots can transfer a workpiece from one hand to the other." Useful, for instance, for observing complex components from all angles. The Fraunhofer researcher continues: "Conventional robotic arms generally only have one swivel joint at the shoulder; all their other joints are articulated. In other words, they have six degrees of freedom, not seven like a human arm." However, as well as the swivel joint at its shoulder, the workerbot has an additional rotation facility which corresponds to the wrist on a human body. Surdilovic's working group developed the control system for the workerbot. He recalls: "Programming the two arms to work together -- for example, to inspect a workpiece or assemble two components -- was a real challenge. It requires additional sensor systems."

Sources: A Robot With Finger-Tip Sensitivity