Festo_BionicMotionRobot_en

Cell Coexistence Synchronised Cooperation Collaboration BionicMotionRobot New approaches for human-robot collaboration Sensitive and gentle or powerful and dynamic – in terms of its movements and functionality, the BionicMotionRobot is inspired by an elephant’s trunk and an octopus’s tentacles. The pneumatic lightweight robot features 12 degrees of freedom and, with its flexible bellows structure, can effortlessly implement the fluent motion sequences of its natural role models. Impressive power to weight ratio The bionic robot arm has a load capacity of around three kilograms and weighs approximately the same itself. Depending on which gripper is fitted, it can handle a number of different objects and be used for a wide range of tasks. The concept of the flexible kinematics is based on the Bionic Handling Assistant from 2010, which, due to the safe collaboration between man and machine, was given the German Future Award. Since then, Festo has been looking intensively into systems that could relieve people of monotonous activities and at the same time pose no risk – an aspect that is becoming increasingly im- portant in everyday factory life. Whether it is shorter lead times, faster product life cycles or high flexibility with regard to quantities and variety, the requirements of the production of the future are manifold and are changing faster than ever before. This industrial change requires a new way for humans, machines and data to interact. Besides the digital networking of entire facilities, above all robot-based automation solutions, which work hand in hand with people, play a critical role in this development. In the production of tomorrow, direct interaction between man and machine will be part of the daily routine. Collaborative working spaces of the future The strict separation between the manual work of the factory worker and the automated actions of the robot is being increasingly set aside. Their work ranges are overlapping and merging into a collaborative working space. In this way, human and machine will be able to work together on the same workpiece or component simultaneously in future – without having to be shielded from each other for safety reasons. As a worldwide supplier of automation technology, it is Festo’s core business to help shape the production and working worlds of the future. A key element for coming up with ideas is the Bionic Learning Network. In an alliance with external partners, Festo looks for natural phenomena and operating principles that can be transferred to technology. Paradigm shift in robotics At the focus of the current research work are lightweight bionic robots, which due to their natural movement patterns and the pneu- matics employed are almost predestined for collaborative working spaces and in future will be able to represent a cost-effective alter- native to classic robot concepts. The strengths of pneumatic drives have always lain in their simple handling and robustness, the low costs of acquisition and their high power density – in other words, comparatively large forces in a small space and with a low weight. Holding processes get by without further compressed air consumption and are therefore extremely energy efficient. For direct contact between human and machine, pneumatics offer another critical advantage, however: their system’s inherent flexi- bility. If an actuator is filled with compressed air, the motion gen- erated can be exactly set in terms of speed, force and rigidity. In the event of a collision, the system eases off, thus posing no risk to the worker. To be able to adjust the whole system to any settings in its dynam- ics, the valve technology used must be able to control the air flows and pressures with extreme precision and at the same time ensure the complex interconnections of many channels. Digitisation of pneumatics What could until now only be implemented with a great deal of effort is made easily possible by a world first from Festo: the Festo Motion Terminal is the first pneumatic automation platform, which, using its software control system, combines the function- alities of over 50 components using apps. Digitisation is opening up completely new areas of application for pneumatics, which until now has been the reserve of electrical automation. 01: Collaborative working space: Simul- taneous, common processing of a work- piece by human and robot 02: Safe handling: The combination of the BionicMotionRobot with the highly elastic TentacleGripper 03: Conceivable scenario: In action with a vacuum suction cup for flat and smooth objects 04: Tremendous power potential: The outstanding ratio of inherent weight and payload 02 03 04 01 © Fraunhofer IAO, study of lightweight robots in manual assembly 2 Festo AG & Co. KG 3 BionicMotionRobot: Pneumatic lightweight robot with natural movement patterns