An automated gripping system inspired by the flexibility and versatility of an elephant's trunk is set to be one of the “wow” displays for visitors to this year's AUSPACK PLUS show.
German industrial automation and training specialist Festo is making the trip to the show, to highlight some of the innovative technologies and systems to come out of its Bionic Learning Network – a joint project between the company and several renowned universities, institutes and development companies, which takes principles from nature to provide a fresh impulse for technology and industrial applications.
The potential of such research will be demonstrated at AUSPACK PLUS by the display of the company's Bionic Handling Assistant 3.0, a mechanical gripper with more than a passing resemblance to a pachyderm's nose.
“The Bionic Handling Assistant is a flexible assistance system based on an elephant’s trunk. Its structural resilience permits safe and direct contact between men and machines and points the way towards new methods of interaction between people and technology,” the company explains.
“The system can now grip objects independently and without the need for any programming or manual operation. A miniaturised camera in the gripper module registers the working space, detects target objects, follows them and initiates the command to grip at the right time.”
At AUSPACK, the company will demonstrate how the system can be used in the food processing and packaging environments.
Festo says it helped establish the Bionic Learning Network in 2006 to transfer efficiency strategies from nature to automation technology, to test new technologies and manufacturing processes and to develop energy-efficient biomechatronic products.
“Flexibility, the ratio of weight to moving mass and energy considerations are becoming increasingly important criteria and nature shows in many diverse ways how maximum performance can be achieved with a minimum of energy consumption,” the company says.
“Nothing is as efficient as nature: biological evolution can be described as an optimisation strategy by organisms to adapt to their environment.
“What could be more obvious than transferring these principles to the development of new technological methods and innovation processes and thereby learning what can be put to use in automation?”
Modelled on the flexibility of an elephant's trunk, German company Festo's Bionic Handling Assistant 3.0 is set to be a technology highlight of this year's AUSPACK PLUS show.
