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A joint venture by Full general Motors and NASA to create a "RoboGlove" that amplifies hand strength for astronauts in space is coming downward to earth. GM hopes the force-multiplying, battery-powered glove will reduce muscle fatigue every bit well as double or triple the force of a worker's hand.

GM has licensed the glove to Swedish biomedical firm Bioservo Technologies AB for refinement and "to address other issues," besides as to include Bioservo'southward SEM (soft extra musculus) technology in a production glove.

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Assistive mitt makes lite work

Pressure sensors in the fingertips determine when the user is grasping or manipulating an object. Where the tool would demand, say, fifteen-20 pounds of pressure to agree a piece of work tool, the user needs to apply just v-10 pounds. Constructed tendons in the glove provide the extra force. Power comes from a battery pack on the user's waist.

In add-on to getting more grip with less pressure, the RoboGlove may reduce fatigue in hand muscles. According to GM, research shows fatigue can affect the worker afterward just a few minutes gripping the same tool. Co-ordinate to Kurt Wiese, vice president of GM Global Manufacturing Applied science, "The successor to RoboGlove can reduce the amount of force that a worker needs to exert when operating a tool for an extended time or with repetitive motions."

The RoboGlove developed by GM and NASA is a "force multipler" that adds strength and grip to the human hand to allow more consistent effort when performing repetitive tasks. Research shows fatigue can occur within a few minutes of continuously gripping a tool. GM is licensing the RoboGlove intellectual property to Bioservo Technologies AB, a Swedish medical technologies company that will combine RoboGlove with its owner patented SEM glove technology.

RoboGlove can grip harder, just it cannot lift a heavy tool off a table then hold information technology in place confronting the piece of work piece. Tomas Ward, CEO of Bioservo Technologies, said RoboGlove is an of import step toward producing a force amplifying exoskeleton for humans. Other automakers and tech companies are researching exoskeletons as force amplifiers, including BMW, Hyundai, and Panasonic. A homo with extraordinary strength from the exoskeleton might be more flexible than a fork elevator truck or robot — not to mention brand automobile factory tours more heady.

GM said information technology does non accept a timetable for bringing the gloves onto the factory floor for widespread deployment. Only it does want to be the offset automaker with the special gloves. Automakers already have special lifts for helping place even moderately heavy objects in place, such as windshield glass.

Other applications for RoboGlove

GM, NASA, and Bioservo all say RoboGlove has important medical applications. During rehab, a patient might quickly gain the gripping strength he or she had earlier the illness. For someone forced to live with express mitt dexterity, RoboGlove could requite the person the power he had 25 years ago to open a jar of jam — if just he can retrieve, once he'southward dorsum from donning the glove, what jar it was he wanted to open.