Production and Supply of Services – Robotics

Robots are already a firm fixture in the industrial landscape – whether on the factory floor or in the medical laboratory. Alongside automakers, the metal-processing and plastic/rubber industries are increasingly turning to these steel-based staff. The latest incarnations are highly sensitive, with the high-tech helpers able to grip even tomatoes without squashing them. Meanwhile, other robots cut a good figure at any stand-up workstation on the production line thanks to their human-like proportions.

In the near future, the use of robotic assistance systems will become more and more important in regards to economic and social terms. Within the project EASY COHMO we will research and develop solutions to very specific, industry driven problems of the human-robot interaction (HRI) and co-operation (HRC) challenges.

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Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU have developed an innovative technology enabling people and large industrial robots to work together in an intuitive way that feels a lot like human teamwork. Using the benefit of this technology, robots can recognize gestures, faces and postures to make this collaboration that much safer and more efficient..

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The goal of the EU project ROBOTT-NET is to strengthen Europe’s market share in industrial and service robotics in the long term, as well as the competitiveness of European manufacturing companies. The partners are collaborating to develop new robotics technologies with the aim of enabling small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises to benefit from these innovations.

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In cooperation with Festo, Fraunhofer researchers have developed an entirely new robot arm. The so-called Bionic Handling Assistant, consists of an artificial arm, a wrist, and a gripper with three fingers. The innovation lies in the device's enormous flexibility. With its flexible movement sequences, this precision gripping device can respond to contact with humans, first decreasing pressure and then reapplying it straight away.this novel high-tech helper can work in industry and in the home.

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