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Opinion: The incredible potential of soft robotics

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Alternatives to hard components hold potential for applications from surgery to space exploration

In January of 2019, Assistant Professor Ellen Mazumdar arrived in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering with the intention of building a robotic actuator without using a single hard component or material – a feat that, to her knowledge, had never been done before.

“We’re really interested in trying to build fully soft robots,” said Mazumdar. “In many current systems, soft components are hooked up to hard pumps or electronics. We want to move towards robots with soft actuators, soft sensors, soft electronics, and soft energy storage.”

In Mazumdar’s Sensing Technologies Laboratory, she is working with PhD student Noah Kohls to develop a biologically-inspired soft actuator that mimics the form and functionality of Xenia soft corals. [Read more…] about Opinion: The incredible potential of soft robotics

HOOPS Exchange 2020 ramps up support for manufacturing as a service

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Tech Soft 3D, a provider of software development toolkits to engineering software companies, has released HOOPS Exchange 2020.

The company describes it as “the industry’s fastest and most accurate CAD data access and reuse technology for manufacturing and architecture, engineering and construction workflows”.

Tech Soft adds that HOOPS Exchange 2020 continues to improve support for manufacturing as a service applications. [Read more…] about HOOPS Exchange 2020 ramps up support for manufacturing as a service

Top 5 Food Industry Technology Advances In 2019

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A fully functional food industry remains a vital part of any modern economy. Not only does it sustain countless jobs, it also keeps us sustained with food to put on our plates. If the cogs stop turning, we stop eating. It’s that simple!

The food industry has faced its fair share of challenges in recent years. Wage issues and labour shortages have dominated the headlines, often leaving this labour-intensive industry with more product than it can pack. Food is being wasted, and so is time and money.

When you think of modern advances in technology, electric cars and drones and connected devices are likely the first things to come to mind. [Read more…] about Top 5 Food Industry Technology Advances In 2019

Fanuc invests in Soft Robotics as startup raises $23 million in oversubscribed funding round

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Soft Robotics has raised $23 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding round.

The round was co-led by Calibrate Ventures and Material Impact and includes additional existing investors Honeywell, Hyperplane, Scale, Tekfen Ventures, and Yamaha.

With this round Soft Robotics also adds Fanuc, the world’s largest industrial robot manufacturer, as a new investor. [Read more…] about Fanuc invests in Soft Robotics as startup raises $23 million in oversubscribed funding round

Fanuc partners with Soft Robotics to integrate new gripper solutions into its industrial robots

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Fanuc, the world’s largest manufacturer of industrial robots, is partnering with Soft Robotics to develop new gripper solutions. (See video below.)

Soft Robotics, a startup which has produced much-discussed end-effectors that are soft and capable of handling soft products that may be of variable shape, says the strategic partnership with Fanuc will accelerate the adoption of integrated soft robotic solutions into high-growth automation markets worldwide.

Soft Robotics’ “mGrip” modular gripper system and automation solutions have enabled implementation of robotic applications in the highly variable and unstructured environments of consumer goods manufacturing, food processing and packaging, and e-commerce supply chain automation. [Read more…] about Fanuc partners with Soft Robotics to integrate new gripper solutions into its industrial robots

Researchers create new metallic material for flexible soft robots

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Researchers at the National University of Singapore have created a new metallic material which they say is suitable for flexible soft robots. (See video below.)

NUS Assistant Professor Chen Po-Yen (main picture, right) and doctoral student Yang Haitao and their team say the new material is also suitable for “origami robots”.

Origami robots are described as “state-of-the-art soft and flexible robots” that are being tested for use in various applications including drug delivery in human bodies, search and rescue missions in disaster environments and humanoid robotic arms. [Read more…] about Researchers create new metallic material for flexible soft robots

Researchers develop robot fingertips for grasping and releasing objects in dry and wet conditions

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A team of researchers at Kanazawa University has developed a robot control system – or fingertips – for grasping and releasing objects in dry and wet conditions.

The researchers say that the study was able to verify that “object grasping by soft surface fluid fingertips with high friction was controllable by applying a suitable lubricant”.

However, they added that it was necessary to do more experiments under various conditions in order to apply the current controlling technology to manufacturing environments. [Read more…] about Researchers develop robot fingertips for grasping and releasing objects in dry and wet conditions