Parallel-wire Robot for Solar-Thermal Plants

Credit: Fraunhofer IPA

Researchers from German Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA), have developed a parallel-wire robot that might pave the way for an innovative concept for automation solutions to handle extreme requirements. One application might be lifting 7 tonne solar collectors, consisting of dozens of parabolic mirrors, for the Desertec consortium whose big idea is the building of gigantic solar-thermal plants in the desert. Desertec has calculated that if just 1% of the Sahara was devoted to solar energy production, enough electricity would be generated for the entire world at current annual levels of consumption.
IPAnema demonstrator robot
The IPAnema demonstrator robot consists almost entirely of cables and winches. The winches are fixed to movable square metal scaffolding. Held between the cables, which are controlled by the winches with the aid of a computer, is the tool, known as the end effector. In the past, it was hard to predict what the result would be when the actuators were moved, but now commands to the winches can be given in a completely synchronised way, thanks to computer modelling.

Compared with conventional industrial robots, the IPAnema wire robot boasts a large working area (2 m x 2 m x 1.5 m), high speeds up to 10 m/s and extreme acceleration >10 g and a wide payload range from 1 kg to 400 kg. These characteristics can also be adjusted in line with a specific problem: The working area can be up to 100 m x 100 m x 30 m depending on the application. The efficient transfer of force through the wires means each wire can support a payload of several tonnes. The robot is controlled by a real time-capable NC control system which can be programmed easily via the tried-and-tested G-Code (DIN 66025). A programmable logic controller (PLC) can be connected as an option, enabling existing plant to be integrated easily.

Intutitive Robot Control

Credit: IPA

In the future robots will learn how to move by imitating human movements. Researchers at the German Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart, have developed a new intuitive robot controlling system based on movement imitation. With help of handheld sensor device that contains various movement sensors, also called inertial sensors, the user can control a robot arm by only moving its own arm. The researchers have developed special algorithms that fuse the data of individual sensors and identify a pattern of movement. That means the device can detect movements in free space. The new system has also numerous applications in medicine such as gait analysis and control of active protheses.  Fraunhofer will presented the new system at the Sensor+Test trade fair from June 7 – 9 in Nurenberg, Germany.

Nuclear Emergency Robots from Europe

While Japan is renowned for its cutting edge robotics technology the world is surprised and concerned to  watch human firefighters and plant workers at the high risk Fukushima site north of Tokyo. Why aren't  remote controlled robots and unmanned vehicles cooling the damaged reactors? When asked a science ministry official said a robot used to detect radiation levels is at the Fukushima site,  but nuclear safety agency JNES official Hidehiko Nishiyama said: "We have no reports of any robots being used."

IAEA in Search of Nuclear Emergency Robots
One week after the earthquake and nuclear power plant disaster IAEA has sent a request to countries asking for "robots and unmanned vehicles capable of operating in highly radioactive “ as that of Fukushima. According to the German media reports Japan has asked Germany for remote controlled robots for operations at Fukushima 1. According to Christoph Unger, President of German Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), an inquiry can be send out to the federal states to ask who can supply such robots as soon as specifications have been arrived from Japan. Two organizations that might help are German KHG and French Group INTRA.

KHG - German Nuclear Emergency Team Germany 

Credit: KHG

The operators of nuclear power plants in the Federal Republic of Germany have taken technical and personnel precautions to stabilize a plant following an accident or breakdown, to analyse the cause and to eliminate the resultant effects. Part of this emergency programme has been placed in the hands of our organisation. The KHG Kerntechnische Hilfsdienste GmbH (Nuclear Technology Support Services) was founded in 1977 by the companies operating nuclear power plants in Germany, together with the fuel cycle industry and major research centres. KHG has a range of vehicles extending from a 22 ton radio-controlled excavator, to small radio-controlled inspection vehicle.


Group INTRA - Nuclear Emergency Team France 
In France the Groupe INTRA, created in 1988, two years after the accident of Chernobyl, by the three French nuclear operators EDF, CEA and AREVA(COGEMA), has developed, operate and maintain a fleet of specific remote-controlled equipment, able to intervene instead of human beings, in the case of an accident in one of its members’ nuclear site. INTRA has also developed expertise of remote intervention, by listing and capitalizing on the experience of interventions carried out within companies or anywhere else, in the case of incident, exceptional maintenance or cleaning and/or decommissioning.

Credit: Groupe INTRA - VERI II B

VERI II B - Teleoperated Vehicle for Investigation 2B - is always forms part of the operational equipment of Groupe INTRA but is now reserved for possible non emergency missions. Robot VERI II B can be teleoperated until a distance of 2 kilometers. It can complete work with its embarked hydraulic tools (shear, power pick and drilling machine).

Credit: Groupe INTRA - ERELT

ERELT is a teleoperated relay robot used to relay the transmissions (Radio-com-mands, radio-measurements, videos, sounds) from and towards other robots and to improve the radioelectrical coverage. Related missions are visual inspection, radioactivity and temperature measurement.  The flexmobil - rubber caterpillar has Deutz 152 HP - air cooled diesel engine, max speed 4,2 m/s and a max distance radio relay of 5 km of fiber optic cable on board, The autonomy in radio relay is about  80 hours. The robot is equipped with 4 cameras, two of which on turrets. The day and night all-terrain robot vehicle has a slope climbing capacity of < 26° and a max hygrometry of 80 % à + 30°C. Operating temperature is - 20°C < T < + 45°C.  The max absorb dose rate level is 1 Gy/h, the max integrated absorb dose is 10 Gy.

The Groupe INTRA is a pole of inventory and expertise for techniques and mobilizable robotics machines in the case of a crisis. Agreement of cooperation with home office. Team and equipment must be ready to intervene within 24/365 on the whole French Territory. INTRA has a permanent staff 20 people and a yearly budget of  4 M€. Global investment  is about 40 M€. Members shares : 50 % EDF 37.5% CEA 12.5% AREVA.

Embodied Motion Intelligence for Cognitive, Autonomous Robots

Credit: EMICAB

Future robotic systems will have to autonomously operate in unpredictable environments and to smoothly interact with humans. This requires the control of complex bodies with many degrees of freedom based on input from multimodal sensory systems.
The EU-project EMICAB takes a holistic approach to the engineering of artificial cognitive systems. The goal is to integrate smart body mechanics in intelligent planning and control of motor behaviour. To achieve this goal the project accounts equally for problems in neuroscience (e.g., multi-sensory integration, internal body models, intelligent action planning) and technology (smart body mechanics, distributed embodied sensors and brain-like controllers).

The €2 Million EMICAB project is formed by the Biomechatronics lab and the Neuroethology lab of Bielefeld University (coordinator), a Systems Engineering lab at the University of Catania, Italy, a Sensor Technology lab at the University of Southern Denmark in Sønderborg, and a Neurogenetics lab at the University of Mainz, Germany.

Robots that Understand

Researchers at the Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology, CITEC, University of Bielefeld, Germany, have a vision of technology that understands. Future machines should be orientated towards people instead of - as hitherto – visa versa. From everyday appliances to robots. Prerequisites are the natural interaction with people and the flexibility of machines so that they can adjust their features to changing conditions, whereas the research of Cognitive Interaction Technology is the necessary pioneer work. A key of this is the search for the fundamental architectural principles of cognitive man-machine interaction.

The Research Institute for Cognition and Robotics, Cor-Lab, is a central institute at Bielefeld University, which realizes progress in human-machine interaction in close cooperation with industrial partners. It hosts a graduate school in cognition and robotics and further projects in this domain, like e.g. the EU project ITALK. This research at Bielefeld University has also convinced representatives of the Honda Research Institute Europe GmbH to support the CoR-Lab's graduate school in joint projects and to provide research grants for PhD students and young postdocs. An important cornerstone of the cooperation are the two ASIMO humanoid robots, which Honda supplies for innovative research projects in the CoR-Lab. CoR-Lab and CITEC cooperate closely in the domains of robotics oriented cognitive research and within their graduate schools in the form of joint programs.

Spy Drones Take Off into Olympic Sky

Monitoring Olympic Sky 2012
From the UK, video surveillance country number one in Europe and host of the Summer Olympics 2012, the Brittish Guardian reports about police plans to use spy drones for "routine" monitoring of antisocial motorists, protesters, agricultural thieves and fly-tippers, in a significant expansion of covert state surveillance. BAE Systems, 2nd largest global defence company based on 2009 revenues, is already adapting its military drones for a consortium of government agencies led by Kent police.
New German Microdrones Take Off
But BAE drones will not be alone. German microdrones GmbH, located in Buchen, has recently launched the new new md4-1000, a rotary wing based micro UAV. It can carry a most diverse range of imaging, video and other sensor systems. Check out the video below for a test flight.

The civilian market for unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, is expected to grow up to $2 billion over the next 10 years according to a UK Trade & Investment report. Market drivers are increased demand of aerial photography, surveillance, plant inspection, fire and rescue service, border control, police monitoring. 

Soft Robotics wins German Innovation Prize 2010

At an official award ceremony held on the evening of 1 December 2010, Germany’s President, Christian Wulff, presented Dr. Peter Post and Markus Fischer of Festo and Andrzej Grzesiak of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) with the 250,000-euro “Deutscher Zukunftspreis 2010”.

Bionic Handling Assistant

The Bionic Handling Assistant is a light, free-moving “third hand” system. Thanks to its structural compliance, direct contact between humans and machines humans and machine is now no longer a danger.

The research team developed the Bionic Handling Assistant within the framework of Festo’s Bionic Learning Network. Its structure and function were inspired by the elephant’s trunk. The flexible assistance system allows humans and machines to work together safely and efficiently as a team for the first time. Possible areas of use therefore include industry, agriculture, the home and even care facilities.

Freedom of movement and adaptive gripping
Eleven degrees of freedom open up a host of task-specific transport directions which, in contrast to conventional handling systems, are not restricted to linear axes. Sensors detect the paths and precisely adjust the system. The adaptive fingers grasp objects positively and non-positively and make the system a genuine assistant when it comes to sorting and moving sensitive objects or supporting assembly processes.
About Festo
Festo is a leading international supplier of automation technology. With its innovations and problem-solving expertise in the field of pneumatics and electronics, the company has established itself as the performance leader in its sector. Festo’s innovative strength is demonstrated by over 100 new products which it launches every year and the 2,900 patents it holds worldwide. Its new approach to product development using bionics and biomechatronics within the framework of the Bionic Learning Network, represents a true first in the field of automation technology.
About Fraunhofer IPA
The research and development focus of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA is on organizational and technological tasks related to production. Since 2005, the institute has been aiding partners and clients both in the planning and design of new products as well as the redesigning and optimization of existing product lines using generative manufacturing processes.

€ 1,2 Million for Danish-German Robot Project

Handling and packing of natural objects from agriculture and food industry is still mainly a manual process. This because no robot currently available is able to handle the degree of flexibility found in these products.
In Southern Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein, there is a rather large food industry that could become endangered if production costs rise. Here, it would be advantageous to upgrade production with intelligent robotic assembly, which at the same time will upgrade the qualifications and required skills of the workers.

The Danish-German cross-boarder robotics project IFRO (Intelligent Robots for handling of Flexible Objects) is aims at bundling expertise within computer vision and robotics across the Danish-German border and supplying a competence center that links to industry as well as research and educational centers in the regions. The € 1,2 Million project is sponsored by the INTERREG 4A programme Syddanmark-Schleswig-K.E.R.N and The European Union’s "The European Regional Development Fund" with € 0,8 million.

Pick up an autonomous taxi cab in Berlin with iPad

Researchers of the Freie Universität Berlin have developed a modular system for the operation of autonomous or semi-autonomous cars that is tested with the new car MadeInGermany, a modified Volkswagen Passat Variant 3c. Latest LIDAR/ RADAR sensor technology, as well as cameras, help to overview its surrounding area (see sketch below for details). A special GPS system gives precise information about the position. The car is also equipped with Drive-by-Wire technology, meaning that engine, brakes, steering and other actuating elements can be accessed directly via the CAN-BUS. The car's intelligence is based on software, which is implemented on computing systems located in the trunk compartment. Most of the required electromechanical modifications and integration of the sensors were performed by the Volkswagen Research Garage. The  "Operating System for intelligent cars" is one of the key research topics of the Artificial Intelligence Group at the Freie Universität Berlin. The Innovation Lab AutoNOMOS is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research in the framework of the German High-Tech Strategy.


The latest autonomous driving solution is calling an autonomous taxi via iPad. The autonomous car is capable of picking up a passenger at a random location. Check out the video for more information. 


(Image/Video: FU Berlin)

Intelligent Floor for Robot Navigation

Keeping track of robots in enclosed spaces still requires sophisticated technology. German Future-Shape has developed an intelligent floor that provides invisible landmarks by using RFID tags. RFID stands for Radio Frequency IDentification.

These tags use an electromagnetic field to retrieve or store information. Since they are passive devices, they do not require a power supply, and they are becoming increasingly popular in logistics applications. Robotic vehicles or other moving objects only need an RFID reader and map loaded in the controller to indicate the position of the tags in the floor. Equipped in this way, the robot can determine its exact position whenever the reader comes within range of a tag.

The intelligent floor calles NaviFloor® is based on impact (footstep) sound insulation textile layer which can easily be installed using a non-permanent adhesive. Future-Shape has developed a robust encapsulation technique which can be used to embed a grid (e.g. 50 cm) of RFID tags (13.56 MHz) into the underlay and protects them against mechanical stress and moisture. The NaviFloor® underlay has been tested for installation under carpeting, laminate and parquet.

Images: Future-Shape, BARiT(R)

First Automatic Driving in Real City Traffic

Today for the first time, an automatic vehicle was driving in everyday city traffic in Braunschweig, Germany.  On Braunschweig’s two-lane ring road, the research vehicle “Leonie” is able to conduct challenging driving maneuvers at speeds up to 60 km/h: lane keeping, behavior at intersections, avoiding obstacles, and adjusting distances and speeds to the flowing traffic. 


The research project „Stadtpilot“ is the only research project worldwide so far that realizes automatic driving in real city traffic. Already in 2007, the TU Braunschweig participated successfully in the DARPA Urban Challenge, the worldwide leading competition for autonomous vehicles: with the 2006 VW Passat Variant “Caroline”, the team CarOLO was in the finals as one of 11 teams out of the initial 89. Based on these experiences, an interdisciplinary team from three different faculties has now developed the follow-up “Leonie”.
Leonie is a VW Passat station wagon, 2.0 TDI. With satellite positioning the vehicle can calculate its position in the traffic. Thanks to various laser scanners and radar sensors, Leonie can perceive its environment continuously and process the data. 
(Source/Image: TU Brainschweig)


One of the first truly autonomous cars was the VaMP driverless car along with its twin vehicle, the VITA-2. Developed by the team of Ernst Dickmanns at the Bundeswehr University of Munich and Mercedes Benz as part of the ECU EUREKA Prometheus Project on autonomous vehicles (1987-1995). VaMP was able to drive in heavy traffic for long distances without human intervention, using computer vision to recognize rapidly moving obstacles such as other cars, and automatically avoid and pass them. 

Mobile robot arm from KUKA

After desktop computing and desktop 3D printing now it´s time to think desktop manipulation and tele-manufacturing. In a near future thousands of students and entrepreneurs will get access to new design and production tools to learn, experiment and realize their product and service dreams. A new era of small scale production and tele-operated manufacturing may be at the horizon, a renaissance for local production and new craftsmen and women?

German industrial robotics manufacturer KUKA Robotics has developed a mobile manipulator for education and research that could become instrumental for promoting and accelerating research in mobile manipulation. The robot is called „youBot“ and has the weight and size to fit on a regular desktop although this is not intended to be the primary work space.

In a student project of the Bavarian elite graduate program Software Engineering at the University of Augsburg an early prototype of the KUKA youBot was connected to the Nintendo Wii controller. Motions of the controller are translated into motions of the youBot arm which holds a wooden marble labyrinth game. Different game modes are possible, where two players can play cooperatively or against each other. 

The omni-directional mobile platform with a 5 DOF manipulator mobile robot is prized € 19.990 excl. VAT and shipment. First KUKA youBots will ship in December 2010. Universities and research facilities are eligible for a 20% academic discount on KUKA youBot hardware. Early bird discount of 25% on KUKA youBot hardware is available until 15. September 2010. 

Locomotec, the official KUKA youBot distributor, has registered the robot in the ECHORD hardware list. Based on the listed robotics hardware European universities and research labs can propose so-called experiments. Experiments are small-scale focused research projects with a strong focus on industrial relevance.

Care-providing robot FRIEND

Researchers of the AMaRob project will present the latest results regarding the new care-providing robot FRIEND - developed at the Institute of Automation (IAT) at the University of Bremen, Germany- at the REHACARE, an international trade fair and congress for rehabilitation, care, prevention and integration. REHACARE will take place from October 14th until October 17th, 2009 in the exhibition centre of Düsseldorf, Germany.

FRIEND is a care-providing robot built from commercially available, reliable industrial components. FRIEND is a construction set of adapted components.

Available Components: Wheelchair based on Nemo-platform, 7 DOF-lightweight robot arm, mounted on automated pan-unit, Prosthetic hand –“SensorHand Speed”– with force and slip sensor, Force torque sensor, wrist mounted, Intelligent tray for position and weight, measurement, Energy-management, Pan-tilt-unit for stereo camera systems and 3D-cameras, 10”-TFT-touch screen, mounted on
automated pan-unit, Command unit(s) – adapted to the impairment of the user, Chin joystick, Speech control, Eye control, Hand joystick, Brain-computer interface, IR/Wireless environmental control unit, e.g. for control of doors, High-end PC-unit.

Asimo robots invade Germany

The University of Bielefeld has opened up a new research Institute for cognition and robotics (CoR Lab). Interdisciplinary research groups at the lab will be working on the development of robots with cognitive and social abilities that will make them suitable assistants for people in everyday life.
As a partner of the lab, Honda of Japan has provided researchers in Germany with two humanoid Asimo robots complete with software. The CoR Lab is thus the first university in Europe that can play around with Honda's high-tech robots for research.
The CoR Lab gets part of its funding from the Ministry of Innovation, Science, Research, and Technology in the German state of North Rhine/Westphalia, which has provided 1.1 million euros for the establishment of the Institute. The lab will mainly be focusing on research in the fields of artificial perception, computer site, and neural motion control.