The arrival of reflexes in robots could help create machines capable of cleaning our homes accurately and quickly.
If you thought that only humans were capable of reacting to stimuli on the fly, now it is also possible in robots thanks to the latest invention of engineers from the WITH.
MIT engineers have developed a robotic gripper capable of reflex grasping, bringing reflexive control to bear on a system that is capable of using automatic responses to make decisions.
So this kind of robotsinstead of starting from scratch after a failed attempt, they are able to adapt to any object on the fly to better grip it.
“In environments where people live and work, there will always be uncertainty. Someone could put something new on a desk or move something in the break room or add an extra dish to the sink. We hope that a robot with reflexes can adapt and work with this kind of uncertainty,” he says. Andrew SaLoutosa graduate student in the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Today, most robotic grippers rely on visual data, thanks to their cameras, but they often have a small delay in reaction time, especially when the grasping attempt fails. Now this new platform is more reflective and reactive using actuators, fast and responsive.
It is capable of registering the force and location of any contact instantly
Its new design consists of a high-speed arm and two lightweight, multi-joint fingers, relies on a camera mounted at the base of the arm and custom sensors in the fingertips, capable of recording the force and location of any contact. instantly.
To do this, they created an algorithm capable of directing the robot to activate a grasping maneuver in response to real-time measurements at the fingertips, while another level deals with reflexes by simulating instinct.
They commented that their new invention was able to grab objects more than 90% of the time, without having to go back and start over while increasing the grip area.
