A game-changing fusion between Swedish industrial giant ABB Robotics and California-based bionics firm PSYONIC is poised to give robots a significant boost in dexterity, thanks to the transfer of human-inspired data from prosthetic users. This pioneering collaboration tackles one of automation's most stubborn challenges: replicating humans' intuitive grasp on handling complex objects.
The partnership combines PSYONIC’s Ability Hand – originally designed for amputees to regain hand function – with ABB's GoFa cobots, which are already renowned for their precision. The Ability Hand is equipped with advanced myoelectric control, touch sensing, and flexible mechanics that allow it to detect contact, grip force, and release, as well as adapt its grasp to accommodate irregular shapes. By integrating this hand into robotic systems, high-quality data on movement, contact, and grip force can be collected, enabling more effective training of robots.
This initiative is a key component of ABB Robotics' vision for Autonomous Versatile Robotics (AVR™), which envisions robots capable of sensing, reasoning, moving, and handling objects with precision in dynamic environments. According to Marc Segura, President of ABB Robotics, developing the next generation of physical AI will empower robots to learn and understand the world in a human-like manner – and this collaboration is specifically aimed at bridging the dexterity gap between humans and machines.
The potential impact on various industries is substantial, with sectors such as automotive, aerospace, packaging and logistics, and life sciences set to benefit from robots taking over tasks that are currently repetitive, ergonomically challenging, or difficult to perform consistently. This promises to enhance productivity, improve flexibility in manufacturing and supply chains, and bolster workplace safety by shifting hazardous or monotonous tasks from human workers to robots.
The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) suggests that advanced gripping technologies and digital integration can reduce engineering time by up to 30%. This underscores the importance of such advancements in accelerating the deployment of automation and improving the return on investment for businesses investing in robotic solutions. The precision offered by ABB Robotics’ GoFa cobots is crucial for translating human-derived manipulation data into reliable robotic performance across complex and variable tasks.
Dr. Aadeel Akhtar, Founder and CEO of PSYONIC, highlighted that dexterous manipulation is as much a data challenge as it is a hardware one. This collaboration aims to unlock the level of dexterity needed to tackle even the most demanding automation challenges – by effectively capturing and utilising human-generated data to train robotic systems.
Source: ABB Robotics