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Man and machine –
hand in hand
What conclusions can we draw
from this for the field of
automation? What information
can we acquire on mechatronics
and control technology? Festo
used three projects from the
Bionic Learning Network to
investigate this topic from
different perspectives.
Controlled by thought:
CogniGame
The CogniGame is controlled by
thoughts and gestures. The
thoughts are transmitted by a
brain-computer interface, which
is first "trained" to recognise
which areas of the brain are
active when I think the command
"move left" or "move right"?
These patterns are then saved,
and the axes of the hardware
move in the corresponding
direction the next time the same
patterns occur.
The software, which was
developed by Festo, serves as a
bridge between the brain-
computer interface and the
hardware that allows control by
thought.
Artificial man-machine
interaction: SoundMachines 2.0
Roland Olbeter's
music
system stands for intelligent
music-making par excellence.
Thanks to the use of creative
composition techniques, no two
pieces of music produced by the
self-playing, mechatronic
instrument are the same.
The Sound Machines 2.0 react
adaptively and flexibly to their
environment. Equipped with
electric drives and built-in
CPX
functions, this quintet of
musical machines shows how
future system optimisation in
factory and process automation
and pioneering concepts for
playful, factory-based
cooperation between humans
and technology might look.
A new force: the ExoHand
Building up force during hard
and strenuous tasks, recognising
and teaching movement patterns
in monotonous activities,
therapy for people who have lost
the function of their hands and
arms following a heart attack,
force feedback
for sensitive
and precise use of force: the
range of potential applications
for the ExoHand is almost
limitless. The Exoskeleton
combines robotics and orthotics
in an intuitive, "cooperative"
man/machine system that uses
Festo software to meld human
intelligence with the mechanical
force and abilities of a robot.
Like an EEG,
the brain-computer
interface acts as an interface between
the brain and the computer, and
measures brain activity. These signals
are then processed, evaluated and
transmitted to the hardware in the
form of control signals.
Force feedback
transmits forces
to the user via the computer.
It is often used in computer games
hardware.
More about CogniGame and ExoHand:
www.festo.com/bionic
More about controller CPX:
www.festo.co.uk/cpx
There are a great number of challenges currently facing the field of man-machine
cooperation. How can the two work together? What is the best way to link human
perception and reasoning with the attributes and power density of machines?
Cooperation between man and machine: the machine passes the man a ball
via the ExoHand.
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