This week we will look at an Australian company that has developed a robotic hand that replicates human dexterity. We also meet some self driving cows, farm robots and a new drone testing airfield. Finally we will solve the problem of your electric car battery going flat.
Robots with Human Dexterity
In October we spoke about the Johns Hopkins and Atom Limbs artificial limb that had a new type of hand with multiple sensors to aid in functioning of the hand. Australian startup, Contactile has also developed an artificial hand however their hand is for use in robotics.
Tactile sensing is the final frontier in robot dexterity. The Contactile robot hand gives robots a human sense of touch with intelligent and dexterous grip. Sensors allow the grippers to apply the optimal grip force to objects of different weight, size and friction without any additional programming.
The sensor array is made of soft pillars which can be deflected independently, optical technology allows each pillar to sense in 3D, deflection, force and vibration. Each sensor is a soft silicone array, similar to a human finger pad. Torque is measured by analyzing the distribution of forces across the array in real time. This allows the onset of slip to be immediately detected and the correct friction required can be calculated and applied.
The robot gripper can grasp objects it has never encountered before with the optimal grip force, irrespective of object weight, size and friction. This allows robots to operate in unstructured environments. This will be particularly useful in custom manufacturing and manufacturing at low volume where automation is not economically feasible.
Contactile won the Advanced Manufacturing Award at the 2020 Australian TechnologiesCompetition.
Self Driving Cows
No that is not a typo. If was going to be pedantic the headline should say Self Herding Cows but that is not as attention grabbing. Halter, a NZ startup, has developed a system that will shift a herd to the milk shed on time and then back to the desired paddock.
Farming today uses a number of cues to shift cows or to keep them in a particular zone. That might be a farmer walking behind their cows, electric fences or farm dogs. These are cues that a cow has learnt and responds to by either shifting or staying. The cow learns behaviors through the use of positive and negative reinforcement. Halter uses cues in the form of sound and vibration via a collar to help a cow understand where she can go and in which direction she should be moving.
The system not only herds cows without human intervention, it also monitors cow health. It can tell when a cow is lame or in heat and where the cow is (there is no escape). The collar is solar powered and connected via wifi to an app that the farmer uses to manage their herd. Virtual fences can be set via the app allowing the farmer to manage their paddocks and the amount of traffic on any one area. Virtual fences can be changed at any time. This improves paddock utilization and can improve grass growth by up to 20%. The system is also able to be automated so that cows are herded ready for milking first thing in the morning. The whole herd can be managed from the comfort of the farmers couch. Halter has one customer that manages their farm in NZ from their house in France.
Farming Robotics
Australian startup, SwarmFarm Robotics, has developed a range of robotic equipment to help simplify agriculture. Founded in Central Queensland in 2012, they built their first SwarmBot in 2014. It was a three wheeled single drive machine weighing 300 kilos that automated spraying. Their systems now comprise of swarms of small, nimble, autonomous platforms that can be adapted to individual paddock demands.
The systems allow precision application of crop protection and weed treatments thus reducing the amount of herbicide used. The bots currently specialize in crop protection and mowing and slashing.
Drone Testing
Last week the Queensland Government opened their purpose specific, commercial drone testing facility at Cloncurry Airport. Boeing was the first to test their new autonomous drones. The facility includes hangars, office buildings, a variety of monitoring equipment, range control systems and surveillance radar.
The site provides a range of test beds for all weight classes of drone. Air space measuring 30 kilometers by 20 kilometers up to 6000 feet is reserved for drone flights. The runway is 2 kilometers long.
Autonomous Charging Drone
There is a meme that regularly circulates, showing an electric car with a flat battery being recharged by a diesel generator on a trailer being towed by petrol ute. The creators’ point being that electric cars will still need old fossil fuel engines to recharge their cars when the batteries go flat.
Toyota has solved this problem. They have patented an autonomous wagon drone that will automatically respond to a Toyota with a flat battery, autonomously drive itself to the car and recharge the battery.
One less need for ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) powered vehicles. In the coming decades everything will be electrified. The question is not “if?”, rather “how long it will take?”.
Paying it Forward
If you have a start-up or know of a start-up that has a product ready for market please let me know. I would be happy to have a look and feature the startup in this newsletter. Also if any startups need introductions please get in touch and I will help where I can.
If you have any questions or comments please email me via my website craigcarlyon.com or comment below.
I would also appreciate it if you could forward this newsletter to anyone that you think might be interested.
Till next week.