Bionic Handling Assistant

Year

2010

The idea

Modelled on the elephant’s trunk, this intuitive robotic system opens up a new dimension in hazard-free collaboration between humans and machines.

The objective

The robotic arm unites flexibility, lightweight design, and an inherent ability to yield. Thanks to its flexible structure, it immediately bends in the event of a collision with a human.

Technical data

• Degrees of freedom: 11
• Material: polyamide
• Basic elements: actuators arranged in a circle
• Control: proportional valve technology
• Gripper: DHDG

Award

In 2010 the Bionic Handling Assistant was awarded the German Future Prize, the Federal President’s award for technology and innovation.

Development platform

This system with intelligent control technology serves as a multi-technology platform for the simultaneous development of mechanics, electronics, and software for machines and handling solutions; it was extended in 2012 to include image and speech recognition. The BionicMotionRobot then followed in 2017, the BionicSoftArm in 2019 and the Bionic E-Trunk in 2023.

Design

The arm is designed as a pneumatic bellows structure with eleven degrees of freedom. Its basic elements are three actuators arranged in a circle. The gripper consists of three fingers in an adaptive fin ray structure.

Lightweight design

The bellows structure and gripper of the Bionic Handling Assistant are made from polyamide in a 3D printing process: The low-density powdered material is applied in thin layers to a platform and fused by a laser.

Material

BionicHandlingAssistant