Bionics
More power from the glove
The Swedish company Bioservo Technologies AB and the Swiss company Eichenberger Gewinde AG have developed Ironhand, a bionic glove.
Ironhand consists of a lightweight glove with a portable control unit that is worn as a backpack. Within milliseconds, it can increase the wearer's grip force by up to 80 newtons. At the heart of this kit are five electrically driven, cold-rolled ball screws from Eichenberger. They convert the rotary motion of the small servomotors into a linear motion. The impressive efficiency of over 94 percent guarantees optimum drive performance.
Copied from the body
The function of Ironhand is similar to that of our hands. A hand movement is normally initiated by the muscles of the forearm and hand. These muscles pull the tendons that extend from the five fingers. Ironhand works in the same way: the pressure-sensitive sensors in the fingertips of the glove detect when the user grasps an object. A microcomputer calculates the required power. Servomotors drive five filigree 5 x 2 millimeter ball screws (diameter 5 millimeters, pitch 2 millimeters). These are connected to the fingers of the glove by thin wire strings. The fine connections move the fingers and the additional force is generated by the slim glove. The greater the pressure on the sensors, the more power the glove delivers. Ironhand therefore recognizes how the user grasps an object and adapts the gripping movement intuitively and automatically. dsc
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