 The two guests are engaged in Robotechnics: Nicholas projects humanoid robots (i.e. robots that are created to help people in their everyday activities), and Thomas makes industrial manipulators. The two young researchers enable their creatures to recognize objects by using a matrix of tactile sensors. In other words, their robots, just like people, can recognize the textures, sizes, and forms of objects, which their “hands” are holding, and even define what an object it is.
When they met ASU’s people, the German guest told much about their projects – the humanoid robot ARMAR-III and the three-finger manipulator SDH-2. The former is some kind of human model – it has a head, eyes, and even two five-finger hands; while the latter is just a three-finger hand to be used at industrial enterprises.
Such a “hand” can be used in a lot of branches of industry, as it actually substitutes human workers’ hands at production lines. The robot’s ability to recognize objects can be used for assembling electronics, cars, or for warehouse operations. Such robots can also be used to sort things: they could take objects from conveyors and classify them, culling low-quality details. The “hand” could be improved by making it resistant to aggressive environments, high (or low) temperatures, etc.
The two guests have highly appreciated opportunities to cooperate with our University (which is also engaged in developing Robotechnics), and wished that their visit would be only the first one of their many future visits to Astrakhan.
Text & Photos by ASU’s Innovative Laboratory of Information Linguistics
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