Sanctuary AI’s Phoenix robot is an impressive beast with incredibly agile hydraulically actuated hands. Well, those hands have become a lot more useful lately. This is because each hand can now hold and manipulate objects at the same time.
Typically, the fingers of a robotic hand move via cables connected to electric motors. If your hands are only needed to perform certain types of tasks, this is a relatively simple, effective, and inexpensive setup.
However, Sanctuary AI wanted the Phoenix humanoid robot to be as versatile as possible. That’s why the Canadian company chose compact hydraulic valve actuators for the robot’s hands. Hydraulic technology is the only option that combines precision and speed, according to former CTO Suzanne Gildert, interviewed by Loz Blain last April. and strength.
“If you see a robot doing something really skilled, like threading a needle or pushing a button, you have to ask yourself if its hands can lift a 50-pound suitcase. And can it move this fast? Or type on a keyboard? ?” she asked. “Usually people only demonstrate one of these three elements, but the ultimate hand must have all three. Currently, hydraulics is the only technology that allows you to achieve all three elements.”
You can see the meticulous action of the previous hand in the following video.
Sanctuary AI – Phoenix with human-like speed
The video may be truly impressive, but last week Sanctuary AI announced that a 21-degree-of-freedom (DOF) robotic hand is now available. also It can be operated by hand. Simply put, this means that only one of your hands can hold and manipulate an object at the same time.
Sanctuary AI
As you can see in the video below, this extra dexterity allows you to do things like flip gaming dice by hand or reduce the jaws of an adjustable wrench. This precision is made possible in part by a force feedback system integrated into each actuator.
“We control the hydraulic system by changing the line pressure of the hydraulic fluid,” Gildert said. “So when force comes back to the finger, we modulate the control signal that shows up in that line pressure. So we can actually sense force by monitoring how the pressure changes subtly.”
Hand operation possible with Sanctuary AI
Importantly, hydraulic valve actuators have undergone more than 2 billion test cycles without any signs of performance degradation or leakage, the latter being a common problem in hydraulic systems. It is hoped that the added features will ultimately make robots like Phoenix more widely available for practical use.
“Demonstrating hand manipulation using a scalable and reliable system is an important milestone demonstrating the breadth and viability of capable general-purpose robots,” said James Wells, interim CEO of Sanctuary AI. “Dexterous abilities are directly proportional to the size of the market for general-purpose humanoid robots.”
Source: Sanctuary AI
