{"539831":{"#nid":"539831","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Soft Touch of Robotics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EWhen he was a little kid, Frank L. Hammond III would watch the \u003Cem\u003ETransformers\u003C\/em\u003E animated series or, if that wasn\u2019t on, he\u2019d watch \u003Cem\u003EChallenge of the GoBots\u003C\/em\u003E. While both programs were created to help toy companies sell toys (Transformers and GoBots), they managed to do something else for Hammond. They nurtured his budding interest in robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cEver since I was a kid I\u2019ve been into robotics, and these shows featured robots that could change their form, which I thought was very cool,\u201d says Hammond, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering and the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cSo I\u2019ve always been interested in devices like these, that could change their form or function to fit the needs of the environment,\u201d adds Hammond, who recently joined the multidisciplinary team of researchers at the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe overarching goal of his research is right there in the name of the lab he helms: the Adaptive Robotic Manipulation Lab.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cThe inspiration for most of my research is getting robots involved in activities of daily life, creating a collaborative environment for humans and robots,\u201d says Hammond. \u201cYou\u2019ve seen a lot of the robots that are available commercially \u2013 robots that sweep floors for example, robots that are very good at doing a certain job very precisely, quickly and reliably, over and over again for tens of thousands of cycles.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EInstead, Hammond is interested in building machines capable of performing complex tasks in concert with their human hosts, wearable devices that are \u201cadaptive and flexible, in direct contact with humans, capable of augmenting human motion.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ESo Hammond shows off a hand-like device with two fingers and a thumb, soft to the touch, like skin \u2013 silicone digits formed in a 3D printed mold, actuated through pneumatic means via little CO2 cartridges.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cThis is biologically inspired,\u201d Hammond says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a little safer than the rigid, electrically-powered devices. This mechanical hand won\u2019t smash the desk if you move too quickly. It\u2019s powered by air and is mechanically compliant, so it\u2019s not going to damage the wearer or the environment. It\u2019s too soft to do that.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe replacement hand can grasp a coffee cup or a bottle of water, open a door, and what it may lack in precision (at this point), it makes up for in utility and cost. One of these devices costs less than $100 to make.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cI think the economy of this device, in general, is closely intertwined with the proliferation of self-robotic devices,\u201d Hammond says. \u201cSoft robotics is much more economical now that so many researchers and companies are doing it. Prices have fallen and there\u2019s more competition.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EHammond demonstrates the hand and its pneumatic actuator. It\u2019s a self-attaching device \u2013 you can attach it using one able arm. He lowers air pressure or changes the air distribution to control how the fingers bend and move. And though Hammond isn\u2019t saying his robotic hand is a full-on replacement for your real hand, it does offer the user some options that Mother Nature can\u2019t.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cThese are modular components,\u201d he says. \u201cSo for example, if I wanted to have longer fingers, I could very easily swap these out with longer fingers.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EHammond earned his Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon, where he worked and studied in the department of mechanical engineering and The Robotics Institute. He did his postdoctoral work at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where leading researchers are directing a number of projects aimed at giving humans extra capability.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ERobotics researchers have coined a phrase, \u201csupernumerary robotics.\u201d Imagine having extra limbs (supernumerary robotic limbs, or SLRs), which are not designed to replace a missing limb, but to augment what you have.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cThey\u2019re still using rigid linkages and electric motors for most of the work, because these are very well known components, easy to characterize and control,\u201d says Hammond, who arrived at Georgia Tech in time for last fall semester.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EBy contrast, he says, \u201csoft robotics is a very nascent field. Controlling softer, compliant mechanisms is much harder.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EHammond gets the appeal of soft robotics and soft sensing and wearable devices in general, adding, \u201cbut I also see the appeal of having extra robotic limbs or even mobile robots that can help us do things collaboratively. I\u2019m trying to fuse all of that into my research efforts here at Georgia Tech.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.franklhammondiii.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHammond\u0027s research website\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Hammond research focused on creating wearable, useable devices for humans"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EHammond research focused on creating wearable, useable devices for humans\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Hammond research focused on creating wearable, useable devices for humans"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2016-05-24 14:59:37","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:46","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-05-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-05-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"539821":{"id":"539821","type":"image","title":"Frank Hammond III","body":null,"created":"1464706800","gmt_created":"2016-05-31 15:00:00","changed":"1475895329","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:29","alt":"Frank Hammond III","file":{"fid":"89568","name":"frank_and_device_again.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/frank_and_device_again.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/frank_and_device_again.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1458199,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/frank_and_device_again.jpg?itok=VX2HvcLD"}}},"media_ids":["539821"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"172067","name":"wearable devices"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}