NASA and GM glove gives workers robotic hands (photos)
A robotic glove, developed out of a partnership between NASA and General Motors, will be used to make human factory workers more efficient, while reducing user fatigue and preventing injuries.
Dubbed the RoboGlove, the battery-powered wearable device initially was created as part of the nine-year effort to build Robonaut 2, a humanoid robot that is living and working onboard the International Space Station.
Now GM is working with Bioservo Technologies AB, a Swedish medical technology company, to continue developing the robotic glove so it can be used inside its own manufacturing factories, computerworld.com reported.
The glove is designed to multiply the force that a human could normally exert on his or her own. Equipped with sensors and mechanical joints and tendons, the glove should be able to decrease hand and arm fatigue, which can begin to occur within just a few minutes of someone starting to use a particular tool.
"Combining the best of three worlds - space technology from NASA, engineering from GM and med tech from Bioservo - in a new industrial glove could lead to industrial-scale use of the technology," said Tomas Ward, CEO of Bioservo Technologies, in a written statement.