The Robotic Touch

The human brain boasts astonishing power. Often, we overlook what our bodies and minds achieve, underestimating the complexity of even straightforward tasks. Consider the act of picking something up and placing it down again—a task you've likely executed flawlessly countless times already today. Let's take a moment to appreciate the instantaneous processes that occur within the human body for this to happen.

When you decide to lift an object, say a coffee mug for example, your prefrontal cortex, the brain's decision-making hub, springs into action. Millions of neurons fire in a precise, coordinated manner. These neurons swiftly send messages to other brain areas, like the basal ganglia, which orchestrates the sequence of movements, and the cerebellum, which manages motor control. Your brain then instructs your arm, hand, and fingers to move. It coordinates the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints, working in harmony with the surrounding bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. The hand, a marvel in itself, with its 27 bones, 27 joints, 34 muscles, and over 100 ligaments and tendons, adjusts to offer unmatched dexterity and flexibility. Your senses engage, with real-time processing between the brain and your eyes, nose, ears, and fingers providing immediate feedback about the environment, facilitating on-the-spot adjustments to the plan.

And just like that, you have taken a sip of coffee.

Did we consciously orchestrate all those bones, joints, and tissues? Did we consider the trajectory of our arm, how we navigate around obstacles, the cup's orientation, size, texture, the number of fingers to use, the pressure applied, the speed of movement...?

Imagine if we had to consciously consider each of these aspects!?

At RightHand Robotics, Inc , we deliver robotic, AI-centric technologies that effortlessly pick and place objects in production workflows globally with accuracy surpassing 99%. Our solution stands out for not only its accuracy, but its speed, reliability, versatility, autonomy, and exceptional efficiency. As you reach for your coffee cup again, reflect on the daily challenges RightHand Robotics navigates. A few examples include:

See: Detecting a container and distinguishing among items within it are essential, with factors like lighting, reflections, item orientation, packaging, and occlusion playing significant roles.

Approach: Actively plan and implement an optimal path into the container, steering clear of all obstacles.

Grasp: Choosing and executing a grasp strategy that ensures the pickup of a single item without causing damage is crucial.

Movement: Ensure the item is transported from the source to its destination without being dropped.

Place: Understanding the destination's orientation and contents allows for intelligent and reliable placement, maximizing packing density and maintaining order integrity.

Throughout my engineering career, developing a piece-picking robot has emerged as the most challenging, engaging, rewarding, and thrilling project I've embarked on. Despite my deep understanding of the system, I often find myself mesmerized by our robots in action.?

In future newsletters, we'll delve into the real-world challenges encountered in production settings. We'll learn from warehouse operators about the complexities of adopting automation. We'll explore cutting-edge solutions and listen to the innovators behind the technology—the hardware, software, and AI engineers.

Help me tailor this newsletter. What are you most interested in learning about??

Like, share, or comment on this and future articles. Subscribe. And share time with us as we explore the technologies that fascinate, challenge, and inspire us every day.

I eagerly look forward to sharing all this and more with you! Until next time…