The human heart beats approximately 35 million times every year, pumping blood via four different heart valves. Unfortunately, &nbsp;in more four million people each year, these delicate tissues malfunction due to birth defects, age-related deteriorations, and infections causing cardiac valve disease.Today, clinicians use either artificial prostheses or fixed animal and cadaver-sourced tissues to replace defective valves. While these prostheses can restore the function of the heart for a while, they are associated with adverse comorbidity and wear down and need to be replaced during invasive and expensive surgeries. Moreover, in children, implanted heart valve prostheses need to be replaced even more often as they cannot grow with the child.A team lead by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.seas.harvard.edu/directory/kkparker" target="_blank">Kevin Kit Parker</a>, Tarr Family Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at the<a href="http://www.seas.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">&nbsp;Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences&nbsp;</a>(SEAS), recently developed a nanofiber fabrication technique to rapidly manufacture heart valves with regenerative and growth potential.Parker is also a Core Faculty member of&nbsp;<a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.</a>In a paper published in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961217302685" target="_blank">Biomaterials</a>, first author Andrew Capulli and colleagues fabricated a valve-shaped nanofiber network that mimics the mechanical and chemical properties of the native valve extracellular matrix (ECM). The team used the Parker lab&rsquo;s proprietary rotary jet spinning technology &ndash; in which a rotating nozzle extrudes an ECM solution into nanofibers that wrap themselves around heart valve-shaped mandrels.&ldquo;Our setup is like a very fast cotton candy machine that can spin a range of synthetic and natural occurring materials,&rdquo; said Parker. &ldquo;In this study, we used a combination of synthetic polymers and ECM proteins to fabricate biocompatible JetValves that are hemodynamically competent upon implantation and support cell migration and re-population&nbsp;in vitro. Importantly, we can make human-sized JetValves in minutes &ndash; much faster than possible for other regenerative prostheses.&rdquo;To further develop and test the clinical potential of JetValves, Parker&rsquo;s team partnered with the translational team of Simon P. Hoerstrup, at the University of Zurich. As a leader in regenerative heart prostheses, Hoerstrup and his team in Zurich previously developed regenerative, tissue-engineered heart valves to replace mechanical and fixed-tissue heart valves. In Hoerstrup&rsquo;s approach, human cells directly deposit a regenerative layer of complex ECM on biodegradable scaffolds shaped as heart valves and vessels. The living cells are then eliminated from the scaffolds resulting in an &ldquo;off-the-shelf&rdquo; human matrix-based prostheses ready for implantation.In the paper, the cross-disciplinary team successfully implanted JetValves in sheep using a minimally invasive technique and demonstrated that the valves functioned properly in the circulation and regenerated new tissue.&ldquo;In our previous studies, the cell-derived ECM-coated scaffolds could recruit cells from the receiving animal&rsquo;s heart and support cell proliferation, matrix remodeling, tissue regeneration, and even animal growth. While these valves are safe and effective, their manufacturing remains complex and expensive as human cells must be cultured for a long time under heavily regulated conditions. The JetValve&rsquo;s much faster manufacturing process can be a game-changer in this respect. If we can replicate these results in humans, this technology could have invaluable benefits in minimizing the number of pediatric re-operations,&rdquo; said Hoerstrup.

In rotary jet spinning technology, a rotating nozzle extrudes a solution of extracellular matrix (ECM) into nanofibers that wrap themselves around heart valve-shaped mandrels. By using a series of mandrels with different sizes, the manufacturing process becomes fully scalable and is able to provide JetValves for all age groups and heart sizes. (Photo courtesy of Wyss Institute at Harvard University)

Harvard and the University of Zurich partner to create a next-generation heart valve that accurately functions upon implantation and regenerates into long-lasting heart-like tissue

Engineering heart valves for the many

What if running the 26.2 miles of a marathon only felt like running 24.9 miles, or if you could improve your average running pace from 9:14 minutes/mile to 8:49 minutes/mile without weeks of training? Researchers at the<a href="http://seas.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">&nbsp;Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences&nbsp;</a>(SEAS) and the&nbsp;<a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University</a> have demonstrated that a tethered soft exosuit can reduce the metabolic cost of running on a treadmill by 5.4 percent compared to not wearing the exosuit, bringing those dreams of high performance closer to reality.&quot;Homo sapiens has evolved to become very good at distance running, but our results show that further improvements to this already extremely efficient system are possible,&rdquo; said author Philippe Malcolm, former postdoctoral research fellow at SEAS and the Wyss Institute, and now Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, where he continues to collaborate on this work.The study appears today in&nbsp;<a href="http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/2/6/eaan6708" target="_blank">Science Robotics</a>.Running is a naturally more costly form of movement than walking, so any attempt to reduce its strain on the body must impose a minimal additional burden. The soft exosuit technology developed in the lab of <a href="https://www.seas.harvard.edu/directory/walsh" target="_blank">Conor Walsh</a>, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SEAS and Wyss Core Faculty member, represents an ideal platform for assisted running, as its textile-based design is lightweight and moves with the body.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1577273403478-Exosuit-Running.jpg" style="width: 1114px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A team of scientists in Walsh&rsquo;s lab led by postdoctoral fellow Giuk Lee performed the study with an exosuit that incorporated flexible wires connecting apparel anchored to the back of the thigh and waist belt to an external actuation unit. As subjects ran on a treadmill wearing the exosuit, the actuation unit pulled on the wires, which acted as a second pair of hip extensor muscles applying force to the legs with each stride. The metabolic cost was measured by analyzing the subjects&rsquo; oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production while running.The team tested two different &ldquo;assistance profiles,&rdquo; or patterns of wire-pulling. One was based on human biology that applied force starting at the point of maximum hip extension observed in normal running. The other was based on a simulation of exoskeleton-assisted running from<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0163417#abstract0" target="_blank">&nbsp;a group at Stanford University</a>, which applied force slightly later in the running stride. The Stanford study suggested that the optimal point to provide assistive force might not be the same as the biological norm. Confirming this suspicion, Lee and colleagues found that the simulation-based profile outperformed the biology-based profile in reducing metabolic cost by about a factor of two.As the authors note in the paper, &ldquo;Our finding supports a paradigm shift toward the concept that mimicking our current understanding of biology is not necessarily always optimal.&rdquo;To clarify why applying force later in running stride improved metabolic expenditure so dramatically, the team analyzed what was happening to the subjects&rsquo; other joints when their hip joints were being assisted by the actuating wires. They found that the simulation-based profile also affected knee extension and the forces between the foot and the ground, while the biology-based profile did not.&ldquo;The biological profile only takes into account the amount of torque in the hip joint, but the human body is not a series of independently acting parts - it&rsquo;s full of muscles that act on multiple joints to coordinate movement,&rdquo; said Lee. &ldquo;Applying force to the hip affects the whole body system, and we need to consider that in order to give the best assistance.&rdquo;While the study&rsquo;s results suggest that the increased biomechanical involvement of the simulation-based assistance profile is responsible for the reduction in metabolic cost, further biomechanical analyses are needed to confirm its findings.The team hopes to continue this research to reduce the metabolic cost of running even more.&ldquo;We only tested two actuation profiles in this study, so it will be interesting to see how much more the cost of running can be reduced with further optimization of the system,&rdquo; said Malcolm.&ldquo;Our goal is to develop a portable system with a high power-to-weight ratio so that the benefit of using the suit greatly offsets the cost of wearing it. We believe this technology could augment the performance of recreational athletes and/or help with recovery after injury,&rdquo; said Lee.The days of a battery-powered exosuit for high-performance runners are still beyond the horizon, as the actuator unit (including motors, electronics, and power supply) in this study was off-board, but the authors say technology is moving toward making an untethered assistive exosuit possible in the near future.&ldquo;This study is a great example of how our team can quickly leverage its experience and expertise in wearable technology and biomechanics to demonstrate how human performance can be improved in new application areas,&rdquo; said Walsh.

Researchers have demonstrated a tethered soft exosuit that can reduce the metabolic cost of running on a treadmill by 5.4 percent compared to not wearing the exosuit (Image courtesy of The Wyss Institute)

New robotic exosuit could push the limits of human performance and lead to new wearable technologies for athletes and consumers

Tethered soft exosuit reduces the metabolic cost of running

<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1570181911758-inputtest2.jpeg" style="width: 461px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Study participants tapped Morse Code into Google Glass after four hours&nbsp;It&rsquo;s not exactly beating something into someone&rsquo;s head. More like tapping it into the side.Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a system that teaches people Morse code within four hours using a series of vibrations felt near the ear. Participants wearing Google Glass learned it without paying attention to the signals &mdash;they played games while feeling the taps and hearing the corresponding letters. After those few hours, they were 94 percent accurate keying a sentence that included every letter of the alphabet and 98 percent accurate writing codes for every letter.This is the latest chapter of passive haptic learning (PHL) studies at Georgia Tech. The same method &mdash; using vibrations while participants aren&rsquo;t paying attention &mdash;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.news.gatech.edu/2014/06/23/wearable-computing-gloves-can-teach-braille-even-if-you%E2%80%99re-not-paying-attention" target="_blank">has taught people braille</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.news.gatech.edu/2008/11/07/reinventing-way-people-learn-play-piano" target="_blank">how to play the piano</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.news.gatech.edu/hg/item/140221" target="_blank">improved hand sensation for those with partial spinal cord injury.</a>The PHL projects are all led by Georgia Tech Professor Thad Starner and his Ph.D. student Caitlyn Seim. The team decided to use Glass for this study because it has both a built-in speaker and tapper (Glass&rsquo;s bone-conduction transducer).In the study, participants played a game while feeling vibration taps between their temple and ear. The taps represented the dots and dashes of Morse code and passively &ldquo;taught&rdquo; users through their tactile senses &mdash; even while they were distracted by the game.&nbsp;The taps were created when researchers sent a very low-frequency signal to Glass&rsquo;s speaker system. At less than 15 Hz, the signal was below hearing range but, because it was played very slowly, the sound was felt as a vibration.&nbsp;Half of the participants in the study felt the vibration taps and heads a voice prompt for each corresponding letter. The other half &mdash; the control group &mdash; felt no taps to help them learn.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1570181952817-tap2.jpeg" style="width: 630px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The findings demonstrate silent, eyes-free text entry on a mobile device without a keyboard (participants touched on Glass&#39;s touchpad to enter Morse code during quizzes). &nbsp;Many mobile or wearable devices cannot accommodate a full keyboard, so it is a challenge to enable text entry on these devices. This research demonstrates a successful system and a rapid, low-effort way to learn it. Participants were tested throughout the study on their knowledge of Morse code and their ability to type it. &nbsp;After less than four hours of feeling every letter, everyone was challenged to type the alphabet in Morse code in a final test.The control group was accurate only half the time. &nbsp;Those who felt the passive cues were nearly perfect.The research was recently presented in Germany at the 20th International Symposium on Wearable Computers.&ldquo;Does this new study mean that people will rush out to learn Morse code? Probably not,&rdquo; said Starner. &ldquo;It shows that PHL lowers the barrier to learn text-entry methods &mdash; something we need for smartwatches and any text-entry that doesn&rsquo;t require you to look at your device or keyboard.&rdquo;Previous research on PHL used custom hardware to provide the tactile stimuli, but here researchers use an existing wearable device.&nbsp;&ldquo;This research also shows that other common devices with an actuator could be used for passive haptic learning,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Your smartwatch, Bluetooth headset, fitness tracker or phone.&rdquo;&ldquo;In our Braille and piano PHL studies, people felt vibrations on their fingers, then used their fingers for the task,&rdquo; said Seim. &ldquo;This study was different and surprising. People were tapped on their heads, but the skill they learned was using their finger.&rdquo;Seim&rsquo;s next study will go a step further, investigating whether PHL can teach people how to type on the trusted QWERTY keyboard. That would mean several letters assigned to the same finger, rather than using only one finger like Morse code.

New study demonstrates silent, eyes-free text entry

Learning Morse Code without Trying

<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1569983765878-HeartSleeveInVirtoFinal_0.gif" style="width: 633px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">In vitro demonstration of the pumping of the soft robotic sleeve (Video courtesy of Ellen Roche/Harvard University)&nbsp;Harvard University and Boston Children&rsquo;s Hospital researchers have developed a customizable soft robot that fits around a heart and helps it beat, potentially opening new treatment options for people suffering from heart failure.The soft robotic sleeve twists and compresses in synch with a beating heart, augmenting cardiovascular functions weakened by heart failure. Unlike currently available devices that assist heart function, Harvard&rsquo;s soft robotic sleeve does not directly contact blood. This reduces the risk of clotting and eliminates the need for a patient to take potentially dangerous blood thinner medications. The device may one day be able to bridge a patient to transplant or to aid in cardiac rehabilitation and recovery.&ldquo;This research demonstrates that the growing field of soft robotics can be applied to clinical needs and potentially reduce the burden of heart disease and improve the quality of life for patients,&rdquo; said Ellen T. Roche, the paper&rsquo;s first author and former PhD student at the&nbsp;<a href="http://seas.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences</a> (SEAS) and&nbsp;<a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">The Wyss Institute&nbsp;</a><a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">of</a><a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">&nbsp;Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University</a>. &nbsp;Roche is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National University of Ireland Galway.The research, published in&nbsp;<a href="http://stm.sciencemag.org/" target="_blank">Science Translational Medicine</a>, was a collaboration between SEAS, the Wyss Institute and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.childrenshospital.org/" target="_blank">Boston Children&rsquo;s Hospital</a>.&ldquo;This work represents an exciting proof of concept result for this soft robot, demonstrating that it can safely interact with soft tissue and lead to improvements in cardiac function. We envision many other future applications where such devices can delivery&nbsp;<a href="https://wyss.harvard.edu/disruptive-mechanotherapeutics-from-drugs-to-wearables-2/" target="_blank">mechanotherapy</a> both inside and outside of the body,&rdquo; said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.seas.harvard.edu/directory/walsh" target="_blank">Conor Walsh</a>, senior author of the paper and the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SEAS and Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute.Heart failure affects 41 million people worldwide. Today, some of the options to treat it are mechanical pumps called&nbsp;<a name="OLE_LINK2" id="OLE_LINK2" target="_blank"></a><a id="OLE_LINK1" name="OLE_LINK1" target="_blank">ventricular assist devices&nbsp;</a>(VADs), which pump blood from the ventricles into the aorta, and heart transplant. While VADs are continuously improving, patients are still at high risk for blood clots and stroke.To create an entirely new device that doesn&rsquo;t come into contact with blood, Harvard researchers took inspiration from the heart itself. The thin silicone sleeve uses soft pneumatic actuators placed around the heart to mimic the outer muscle layers of the mammalian heart. &nbsp;The actuators twist and compress the sleeve in a similar motion to the beating heart.The device is tethered to an external pump, which uses air to power the soft actuators.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1569983812883-HeartSleeveFinalGif1.gif" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">In vivo demonstration of cardiac assist in a porcine model of acute heart failure (Video courtesy of Ellen Rouche/Harvard SEAS)The sleeve can be customized for each patient, said Roche. If a patient has more weakness on the left side of the heart, for example, the actuators can be tuned to give more assistance on that side. The pressure of the actuators can also increase or decrease over time, as the patient&rsquo;s condition evolves.The sleeve is attached to the heart using a combination of a suction device, sutures and a gel interface to help with friction between the device and the heart.The SEAS and Wyss engineers worked with surgeons at Boston Children&rsquo;s Hospital to develop the device and determine the best ways to implant the device and test it on animal models.&ldquo;The cardiac field had turned away from idea of developing heart compression instead of blood-pumping VADs due to technological limitations, but now with advancements in soft robotics it&rsquo;s time to turn back,&rdquo; said Frank Pigula, a cardiothoracic surgeon and co-corresponding author on the study, who was formerly clinical director of pediatric cardiac surgery at Boston Children&rsquo;s Hospital and is now a faculty member at University of Louisville and division chief of pediatric cardiac surgery at Norton Children&rsquo;s Hospital. &ldquo;Most people with heart failure do still have some function left; one day the robotic sleeve may help their heart work well enough that their quality of life can be restored.&quot;More research needs to be done before the sleeve can be implanted in humans but the research is an important first step towards an implantable soft robot that can augment organ function.Harvard&rsquo;s<a href="http://otd.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">&nbsp;Office of Technology Development&nbsp;</a>has filed a patent application and is actively pursuing commercialization opportunities.&ldquo;This research is really significant at the moment because more and more people are surviving heart attacks and ending up with heart failure,&rdquo; said Roche. &ldquo;Soft robotic devices are ideally suited to interact with soft tissue and give assistance that can help with augmentation of function, and potentially even healing and recovery.&rdquo;

Harvard researchers have developed a customizable soft robot that fits around a heart and helps it beat, potentially opening new treatment options for people suffering from heart failure. The device is tethered to an external pump, which uses air to power the soft actuators

Sleeve attaches directly around the heart

Soft robot helps the heart beat

One key element of the future production landscape is highly flexible Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC). This article describes 3 case studies which illustrate how collaborative robots change the way people will manufacture. KUKA, one of the world&#39;s largest suppliers of industrial robots, has written a free, downloadable white paper called &quot;<a href="http://bit.ly/kuka-whitepaper-US" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shaping future production landscapes</a>.&quot; The white paper describes &#39;megatrends&#39; that impact manufacturing and 3 key factors to designing production infrastructures that can meet the requirements of the future.&nbsp;<hr><h1>Intro</h1><h2>Human-robot collaboration&nbsp;</h2>In human-robot collaboration, the robot assists the human operator. This means: The machine does not replace the human, but complements his capabilities and relieves him of arduous tasks. These can include overhead work, for example, or the lifting of heavy loads. Autonomous, collaborative robots are also used to supply production workstations.In the ideal &#39;factory of the future&#39; there is no separation between automated and manual workstations. Humans and robots collaborate optimally &ndash; without separation and without safety fencing.<h2>Human-robot collaboration: the advantages</h2>HRC-capable robots (often labeled &#39;Collaborative Robots&#39; or &#39;Cobots&#39;) are rendered mobile and capable of performing different tasks flexibly using mobile platforms. They can thus be individually deployed at whatever location and for whatever purpose corresponds to production requirements &ndash; dependent on the required batch size, for example. Furthermore, these types of robots offer maximum flexibility by means of so-called spontaneous automation: They support a user as an assistant in the case of workload peaks and resource bottlenecks in production operations.Human-robot collaboration changes industrial production and manufacturing and can bring a number of advantages over traditional automation or manual labor:<ul><li>Increased flexibility in production</li><li>Relief of employees by performing ergonomically unfavorable work steps that could not previously be automated</li><li>Reduced risk of injuries and infections</li><li>High-quality performance of reproducible processes &ndash; without requiring type-specific or component-relevant investment.</li><li>Increased productivity and improved system complexity thanks to integrated sensors</li></ul> <h1>HRC Case Studies</h1>To give you an idea of the impact of collaborative robots in the workspace we&#39;ve gathered 3 case studies to show you the impact of these robots and the challenges they overcome. <h2>Case Study 1: Lightweight robots supporting operators in adhesive bonding processes.</h2><h2><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1566292124494-KUKA+LBR+iiwa+Duerr.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 766px;"></h2>All images courtesy KUKASystem and machine builder <a href="https://www.durr.com/en/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">D&uuml;rr</a> uses two sensitive LBR iiwa robots in final assembly. Without a safety fence, they perform key tasks in the application of adhesive beads. This improves quality, saves time and lowers unit costs.<div data-ignore="true">At the company, humans and robots work together in final assembly without the need for physical safeguards. Sensitive lightweight robots are used for the adhesive bonding of GPS antenna covers and tanks in the vehicle body. The solutions improve the quality of the adhesive bonding result, save time and lower unit costs.&nbsp;</div>The LBR iiwa detects any fault that arises when the GPS antenna cover is loadedFor application of adhesive to the GPS antenna cover, the assembly worker places the workpiece into the robot gripper manually. The gripper sucks onto it and moves it to the adhesive nozzle on the application tower. The robot slowly moves the GPS antenna cover upwards to the application nozzle. If it encounters an obstacle, it moves back a little thanks to its collision detection ability and starts the motion over from the beginning. Only after three attempts does it move back into the starting position. Otherwise, the adhesive application process starts and the adhesive bead is applied carefully while the robot executes the path. Finally, back at the starting point, the assembly worker removes the GPS antenna cover and mounts it on the vehicle. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PdAXCNtXabc?&wmode=opaque" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 767px; height: 429px;" frameborder="0"></iframe>Precise adhesive beads thanks to the seventh axis of the LBR iiwaFor the automated process of gluing the tank into place in final assembly, the skilled worker guides the tank to a turntable with the aid of a manipulator. There he cleans it, moves it into the correct position and transfers it directly to the robot for further processing. When the starting point is reached on the stationary tank, the nozzle opens under pressure so that no air bubbles are created. The robot then applies the adhesive bead onto the tank very evenly. Sensors on the application head monitor the accurate height of the bead. Thanks to its seventh rotating axis, the robot glues in a radius of 360 degrees &ndash; without re-orienting or having to interrupt the bead. As soon as the robot has completed its task, the skilled worker fits the tank into the vehicle body at the specified position.<a href="http://www.durr.com/" target="_blank">D&uuml;rr</a> has already sold ten systems in the field of adhesive bonding, and is working on HRC solutions for the robot-based adhesive bonding of small washers and other components. <h2>Case Study 2: Human-robot collaboration during the adjustment of headlights.</h2><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1566292345359-Fahrassistenzsystemprfstnden_Drr.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">To reduce the strain on the workers, two KUKA LBR iiwa cobots perform the unergonomic task of adjusting fog lights at Ford. Parallel to this, human colleagues can adjust the main headlights.<article data-ignore="true">The initial situationIn the automotive industry, vehicle fog lights have previously been adjusted manually by human operators. While stooped over, the human operator searches for the hard-to-reach opening for the adjusting screws in the bumper area. Once he has found the adjusting screw, he positions the tool on it extremely carefully without damaging the adjustment opening on the bumper.</article><article data-ignore="true">The solutionTo provide relief for the human worker during this ergonomically unfavorable work and simultaneously achieve improved of the adjustment, Ford VOME (Vehicle Operation Manufacturing Engineering), D&uuml;rr Assembly Products and KUKA have jointly developed an innovative alternative concept for the conventional process as part of a feasibility study. The solution called for the use of the KUKA LBR iiwa cobot. The sensitive robot adjusts the fog lights fully automatically. In doing so, humans and robots work on the same vehicle without additional safety equipment.</article><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9HWY-CLR3Co?&wmode=opaque" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 766px; height: 419px;" frameborder="0"></iframe>TeamworkWhile the human operator adjusts the conventional headlights, the cobot adjusts the hard-to-reach fog lights. Two lightweight robots are already in use in four headlight/driver assistance system test stands for the new Ford Focus C519 at the Ford plant in Saarlouis. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The secret of the HRC conceptWith its size and joint torque sensors, the robot detects contact immediately and reduces its level of force and speed instantly. These characteristics make it possible to work with human operators in confined spaces. Furthermore, with its high-performance servo control, the cobot detects contours quickly under force control. In combination with an end effector specially developed by D&uuml;rr (consisting of a camera system and an adjustment screwdriver), the robot positions the adjustment screwdriver according to the hole coordinates acquired by the camera system. The adjusting screw itself is located approximately 80 mm behind the hole in the bumper. Thanks to sensitive movements, the cobot optimally positions the adjustment tool into the screw head.Redundant safety is provided by the HRC-capable, heavy-duty aluminum gantry from D&uuml;rr Assembly Products &ndash; on which the KUKA LBR iiwa is positioned in a ride-on installation above the light collecting box directly in front of the headlight to be adjusted. The advantage here: additional robot positioning can be dispensed with. <h2>Case Study 3: Using a cobot to install pump wells. </h2><h2><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1566292578317-KUKAflexFellow_Platzierung_im_Arbeitsbereich_IMG_3628.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"></h2>In the future, BSH Hausger&auml;te GmbH will be using a <a href="https://www.kuka.com/en-us/products/mobility/mobile-robot-systems/kuka-flexfellow" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">KUKA flexFELLOW</a> to carry out the installation of pump wells on the dishwasher production line.&nbsp;<article data-ignore="true">The initial situationThe <a href="https://www.bsh-group.com/us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BSH Hausger&auml;te</a> GmbH factory in Dillingen, Germany is Europe&rsquo;s largest and most modern factory for dishwashers. Around 10,000 machines leave the production line every day in two-shift operation. There are a total of seven production lines for manufacturing dishwashers.Screw fastening of the pump covers in the dishwasher is an ergonomically inconvenient task as the employee has to lean into the dishwasher housing to perform the task. The mechanical assistant now takes on this monotonous step in the process.&nbsp;The task &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Its contribution has already been tested successfully over several months as part of a pilot system. In addition to relieving the human operator of a cumbersome task, the robot also contributes by documenting its work and indicating whether the screws have been tightened correctly or not.The solution &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The key challenge when designing the system was to ensure that the manual workstation remained unchanged and that the automation solution could be integrated into the existing assembly line. Its sensitive and responsive capabilities enable it to recognize if, for example, a pump well component is not positioned correctly and then presses it into place.&nbsp;<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jtkJQJXO7AQ?&wmode=opaque" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 767px; height: 413px;" frameborder="0"></iframe>The advantages of using a cobot:<ul><li>Reduction of the manual workload in an ergonomically inconvenient task</li><li>Automated documentation of work steps</li><li>Indication of correct screw fastening operation</li></ul>Using its responsive capabilities, the cobot can then calibrate itself independently at its workstation, use a search run mode to find the screw positions, re-apply pressure to the component if it is not correctly positioned and finally tighten the four screws. <hr><h1> </h1><h1>Further Reading</h1><ul><li>Specifications of the <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/wevolver.staff/kuka.lbr.iiwa/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">KUKA LBR iiwa</a></li><li>&quot;<a href="http://bit.ly/kuka-future" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://bit.ly/kuka-whitepaper-US" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shaping future production landscapes,</a>&quot; KUKA&#39;s white paper describing the &#39;megatrends&#39; that impact manufacturing and 3 key factors (people, technology and adaptation) to designing production infrastructures that can meet the requirements of the future.</li></ul> </article>

In human-robot collaboration, human and machine work hand in hand. The human operator controls and monitors production, the robots perform the physically strenuous work. Both contribute their specific capabilities.

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Engineering heart valves for the many

Tethered soft exosuit reduces the metabolic cost of running

Learning Morse Code without Trying

Soft robot helps the heart beat

Human-robot collaboration: 3 Case Studies