Festo AG & Co. KG
P. O. Box
73726 Esslingen
Phone+49 711 347-1873
Ruiter Straße 82
73734 Esslingen
Press release
Number
CC 05/10
Date
19 April 2010
Our reference
CC/DRHF
Legal form:
Limited partnership
Registered office: Esslingen a. N.
Register court Stuttgart
COR 211583
Value added tax id. number:
DE 145 339 206
General partner:
Festo Management
Aktiengesellschaft
Registered office: Vienna/Austria
Commercial register court:
Commercial court Vienna
COR FN 303027 d
Board of Director:
Dipl.-Kfm. Alfred Goll
Dr. Claus Jessen
Dr. Ansgar Kriwet
Michael Mölleken
Dr. Eberhard Veit (Chairman)
Chairman of the Supervisory Board:
Dr. Wilfried Stoll
Bionic Future Concepts (r)evolutionise automation technology
The elephant’s trunk and the fish’s fin provide new impetus for green production
What do the elephant’s trunk and the fish’s fin have to do with automation? Festo is answering this question with the latest technical highlights from the Bionic Learning Network at the 2010 Hanover Trade Fair. The bionic Future Concepts are inspired by nature. With the Bionic Handling Assistant, the engineers from Festo have created a breakthrough innovation that will (r)evolutionise handling technology right up to human-machine cooperation. And with the BionicTripod 2.0 and Modular Lightweight Handling, Festo is presenting further innovative solutions for a wide variety of handling tasks. Whether for industrial applications or as a learning system in basic and advanced training – nature is showing the way towards energy-efficient automation of the future. With CyberKite, an automated kite system, Festo is presenting a future-oriented mechatronic concept that subdues the forces of nature by means of intelligent control technology.
“We are using our Bionic Learning Network and Future Concepts as a platform for identifying new products or product ideas and for testing their market relevance in dialogue with our customers. With our Future Concepts, we are sustainably securing our lead in global competition and are testing future technologies with one goal: to offer our customers added value,” said Dr. Eberhard Veit, Chairman of the Management Board of Festo AG.
With the Bionic Learning Network and Future Concepts, Festo is setting new trends, from safe automation through intelligent mechatronics solutions up to new bionic handling and gripping technologies, energy-efficiency and green production.
Inspired by the elephant’s trunk: the Bionic Handling Assistant
For the Bionic Handling Assistant, the experts at Festo were inspired by the elephant’s trunk. It is flexible, transmits large forces and serves as a precise gripping tool. Human-machine cooperation has been (r)evolutionised through analysis of the structure and functioning of the elephant’s trunk and the use of new manufacturing technologies – the outcome is a completely new, biomechatronic handling system.
With the Bionic Handling Assistant, direct contact between machines and their human operators – whether accidental or intentional – is no longer hazardous: in the event of a collision with a human, the Bionic Handling Assistant yields immediately, without modifying its desired overall dynamic behaviour. The Bionic Handling Assistant then resumes its operation. Unlike heavy industrial robots, the Bionic Handling Assistant is characterised by an excellent mass-payload ratio, smooth operating motion with more degrees of freedom and efficient use of resources.
The Bionic Handling Assistant opens up new applications in the handling industry. It can be used wherever risk-free mechanical assistance is required – for example in medical technology, rehabilitation and care for the disabled, as well as in agriculture, domestic households and educational institutes.
The Bionic Handling Assistant consists of three basic elements for spatial movement, together with a hand axis with ball joint and a gripper with adaptive fingers. The basic elements each comprise three circularly arranged actuators tapering at an angle of three degrees. Each actuator is supplied with compressed air at the interfaces of the basic elements. Resetting is effected by the loop-like design of the actuators, which act like a spring when the compressed air is discharged. Their extension is measured by travel sensors, which control the system’s spatial movement. In the hand axis, three further actuators are arranged around a ball joint; their activation displaces the gripper by an angle of up to 30 degrees. SMAT sensors register the travel and make for precise alignment. VPWP proportional travel valves are used for the overall control of the Bionic Handling Assistant. The elements are flexible and can transmit high forces despite their lightweight design.
The specific manufacturing requirements for the Bionic Handling Assistant are fulfilled by the use of modern rapid manufacturing technologies. Rapid manufacturing permits the production of individual movable system components from polyamide, which is applied in thin layers onto a base platform in the course of the production process. Each new layer is fused with the underlying layer by means of a laser beam, which hardens the layers only where this is permitted by the three-dimensional dataset of the control program. Individualised 3D printing of complex products is therefore possible.
From the fish's fin to BionicTripod 2.0
The aim of this development was to achieve a maximum scope of operation with a minimum weight of the moving parts. Thanks to its lightweight design, i.e. with reduced moving mass, BionicTripod 2.0 is efficient in terms of energy consumption in sorting and displacement operation.
The bionic principle of the fish’s tail fin finds repeated use as a so-called 3D Fin Ray® structure adapted to three-dimensional space. This structure makes for an energy-efficient lightweight design.
BionicTripod 2.0 is rotated at 90 degrees from the conventional tripod configuration and can thus be described as a horizontally arranged tripod. The integrated adaptive gripper, the so-called FinGripper, and a kind of ball joint based on the function of the human wrist provide maximum flexibility for picking up objects from a working surface and depositing them at different levels.
The adaptive, highly versatile FinGripper constitutes the interface between the object and the actuator system. It consists of a pneumatic actuator in the form of a bellows and three gripping fingers, which are designed as an adaptive structure with Fin Ray® Effect. The resulting pliability and flexibility make the FinGripper ideal for tasks in human-machine interaction, e.g. in agriculture for sorting fruit and vegetables, or in sorting materials for recycling in industrial application. A “third hand” that can pass a screwdriver, a wrench or a component for installation is also an ideal helper for all kinds of assembly tasks.
BionicTripod 2.0 comprises six fibreglass rods arranged in a pyramid; these are interlinked in a flexible and articulated manner and can be extended or retracted for displacement by up to 90 degrees in any direction within a large working space.
Precise control and displacement of the tripod structure are ensured by EGC electric linear axis units and EMMS electric drive. The entire system is controlled by CMXR robotic control software. In the hand axis – by analogy with the function of the human wrist – three actuators are arranged around a ball joint in such a way that three further degrees of freedom are attained, thereby allowing deflection by up to 30 degrees.
A modular construction kit for basic and advanced training – Modular Lightweight Handling
As a learning system for basic and advanced training, Modular Lightweight Handling will extend the scope of the multiple-axis construction kit system from Festo. In combination with Modular Lightweight Handling, the Festo product portfolio provides for constructions ranging from an angle picker, via a tripod, up to six-axis articulated-arm kinematics. Schools can configure their own kinematic systems in a variable manner and provide practical instruction on the basis of real industrial components.
With Modular Lightweight Handling a light-design articulated-arm kinematic system can be built up. Weighing only 4 kg, and with a payload of up to 800 grams and six degrees of freedom, it is ideally suited as a learning system. Thanks to its simple, cost-efficient design, it can be used in pick-and-place applications, in the automation of laboratory processes or as a “third hand” in the field of service robotics. Its low weight allows the use of kinematics without a protective cage, thus paving the way for interactive human-machine cooperation.
Modular Lightweight Handling is as changeable as a chameleon. From single-axis to six-axis kinematics, all variants can be modified or even subsequently retrofitted with a minimum of effort. This yields a variety of possible configurations. The principle of a modular, lightweight construction kit is continued at the front end, for example with the gripping tool interface. Modular Lightweight Handling autonomously selects two- and three-finger grippers, parallel and angle grippers, vacuum grippers and Bernoulli grippers from its storage unit. Adaptive gripper fingers based on the Fin Ray Effect® also allow complex, irregularly shaped products to be grasped.
Through the use of actuators with precision gearing, Modular Lightweight Handling can position objects precisely. Thanks to decentralised control units in the joints, all the motors operate at low voltage and are addressed by a CMXR robot control unit via a serial bus (CAN) system.
CyberKite – the automated kite system
Controlling the forces of nature has been a dream of humankind since time immemorial. With the CyberKite, Festo is meeting this challenge by developing a kite system with a cybernetic control unit. The engineers have set themselves the task of taming the wind, an unpredictable factor, and permanently maintaining in flight a steerable kite with a ram pressure wing – no matter from which direction the wind is blowing. The CyberKite demonstrates a biomechatronic overall concept that can autonomously control a ram pressure wing measuring up to 24 m2independently of energy sources.
The CyberKite’s flight is intelligently regulated in accordance with wind conditions and wing size. Various operating modes and adapted flight path settings allow the kite to fly throughout a wide range of wind speeds. The CyberKite is thus a high-flying master of endurance. Together with the robust flight control system, an automatic load limiter ensures unproblematic operation even of large wings.
The regulation and control of the CyberKite are not based on rigid tethering, but are rather programmed for intelligent yielding, whereby use is made of the force of the wind through energy-efficient application of the drive units. In the servo motor system, not only the braking energy from the control movements is recovered from the actuators, but the surplus wind energy from the yielding tether drives – supplemented by state-of-the-art battery technology – is also utilised to operate the system. The actuators periodically run in “generator mode” using the tractive force of lines extended from the kite; the electrical energy gained by this means is fed to the batteries, thereby considerably reducing the system’s energy requirements. Under appropriate wind conditions, future CyberKite systems will be operable independently of an external energy supply, using only the force of the wind.
On the ground, a mechatronic actuator unit controls the kite’s flight. Changing wind conditions present no problem to the hybrid wing system. The kite combines a large wing volume, for accommodation of aerostatically lifting gas, with a favourable glide ratio and optimum inherent stability. Even with no wind, the wing maintains its position thanks to the buoyant effect of the lifting gas.
Despite its flat, elegant form the wing does not require additional tail units for stabilisation. Wing adjustment is achieved via the adaptive bridle by means of a universal rope transmission. The wing is thus able to fly in a straight line with extended tips, and to bend when negotiating curves in such a way as to expose a sufficient stabilising lateral surface.
Since the wing system is tethered to the ground, undesirably high line forces can be rapidly reached in conditions of strong, gusty wind. Electric actuators and sensors react to each flight situation and keep the system stable. For this purpose, an adaptive rope transmission was realised for the tethering; this can reduce the effect of the wind forces whenever necessary. For controlled reeling and release of the tethers and control lines, each winch is provided with a displacement shaft, consisting of an electric linear drive unit.
Fin Ray Effect® is a trademark of Evologics GmbH.
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Caption to illustration: / Inspired by the elephant’s trunk: the Bionic Handling Assistant
(photos: Festo)
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Caption to illustration: / Dr. Eberhard Veit, Chairman of the Management Board of Festo AG, Bionic Handling Assistant (photo: Festo)
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Caption to illustration: / Rapid Manufacturing (photo: Festo)
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Caption to illustration: / Evolution chart (chart: Festo)
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Caption to illustration: / From the fish's fin to BionicTripod 2.0(photos: Festo)
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Caption to illustration: / Evolution chart (chart: Festo)
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Caption to illustration: / A modular construction kit for basic and advanced training – Modular Lightweight Handling(photos: Festo)
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Caption to illustration: / CyberKite – the automated kite system(photos: Festo)
The press text and photos are available on the Internet at For further information on Festo’s Bionic Learning Network please refer to
The videos are available on YouTube.
TV footage is available on demand.