Tools have many useful purposes and help to make life easier. For example, a pair of pliers increases the strength of a hand in order to turn something. Other tools, such as a wheelchair, help disabled people maintain mobility. With each advancement, technology helps to create tools that are more complex and able to accomplish increasingly sophisticated tasks. The ExoHand by the Festo Corporation is one such example.
What is The ExoHand?
The ExoHand is worn like a glove and registers the precise movements of the arm, hand and fingers. Each movement is instantly transferred to a robotic hand, allowing the fingers to be opened or closed and wrist motion to be imitated. The goal of this device is to provide extra mobility as well as increased hand strength and endurance. There are many potential applications for this type of technology.
[Read also: 5 Basic Robotics Concepts to Share With Your Child]
Gives your arms a boost
In an industrial setting, the ExoHand can help in assembly lines where repeated movement can quickly fatigue human hands. It can be used to increase the hand’s strength when assembling various items. The ExoHand can also be applied to tasks requiring movement of hazardous materials. And law enforcement officers might use robots equipped with the ExoHand in order to move suspicious items from a safe distance.
In medical settings, the ExoHand can be used for rehabilitation therapy. The hand would be especially useful with helping recovering stroke patients to regain eye-hand coordination and overall hand movement. Because the ExoHand supports the hand from the outside, it also makes an excellent tool for elderly patients. The tool would allow individuals to maintain a degree of autonomy, even though they may have less hand strength because of their age. The ExoHand would augment their hand strength.
[Read also: Stroke Victim Controls Robotic Arm with Thoughts]
Future of Automation
The ExoHand features a forced feedback system which allows the user to actually feel the forms and resistance of the things he or she is manipulating. The user no longer needs to rely solely on visual feedback.
The Festo ExoHand represents an exciting new technology with many useful applications. The technology offers a giant leap forward in human-machine interaction.
OK Peter, now all this technology is really starting to creep me out a bit. Makes me wonder what else they are working on or will come out with next. This is like some sci-fi movies. I didn’t think we would see some of this stuff in my life time, but here they are.
Yea Ray! Don’t know what would be next! Do you think they’ll make robotic kidneys or liver something like that? LOL… 😛
That would be a very interesting invention Peter, who knows right? You have to keep us posted re robotic kidneys and liver .. :p Interesting.
Who ever able to make those will be super rich!
I actually saw a sci-fi movie like that not too long ago. The organs were some form of mechanical artificial device, and expensive. They were bought on credit and if the person got behind on payments they sent out repo men to repossess them. Use your imagination. It was actually called Repo Men. Kind of strange movie, but it does remind me of this a little minus the repossession.
Lesson learned! Buy things with cash! 🙂
It seems that everything we’ve seen in SciFi movies when we were kids is now bacoming a reality. This one could be the Terminator’s hand 🙂