Robotics is fast becoming one of the most important emerging technologies. Its ability to counter several societal challenges such as the ageing population, the rising healthcare costs or offshoring to low-cost countries whilst at the same time offering tremendous economic potential makes the field of robotics an area where innovation and R&D are paramount.
Gone is the era where robots were only used for industrial automation and working in isolated cells. Much of the promise of modern robotics lies in the fact that robots and humans are now able to work together. Exoskeletons for example can help people to walk again, but can also support workers to carry heavy loads. This close contact and natural interaction demands novel hardware and software designs that inherently allow this close collaboration between man and machine in a safe way. Additionally, the locomotion capabilities of humans with its low energy consumption, high flexibility, low weight and high stability remain unmatched by robots.
By mimicking the human body, compliant actuators (actuators are the ‘muscles’ of the robots) can generate the high torques needed by these ‘muscles’, while also offering safety, low weight and a low energy consumption. For electrical driven compliant actuators, the design employs an intermediary elastic element between the motor and the actuator output that helps to absorb and store energy from external interaction forces or undesired shocks. This last feature is what makes these actuators particularly interesting for robots coming in close contact with humans as it provides an extra safety barrier.
In order for these robots to be successful, compliant actuators are needed that offer both safety and performance. Several research institutes are working on these, as interest in compliant actuation has remarkable increased in recent years. Most of the developed prototypes present great potential but are not available on the market. One of the reasons is the gap between research and industry. Entering an established market, in this case the one of stiff actuators, and showing the advantage of a new technology is time consuming and expensive. Limited business experience and market focus in the academia makes this process even slower. In the U.S. some companies such as the University of Texas spin-off Apptronik, Yobotics and HEBI robotics already offer compliant actuators, however the intrinsic capabilities of their devices are inferior to the BioMot actuator. There are no Smart Variable Stiffness Actuators on the market similar to the one we propose, in particular in Europe. The fact that the market needs an integrated actuator solution for exoskeleton applications has been recognized also by Maxon Motors AG which is a worldwide leading provider of high precision drive systems. This company will release in next months a stiff actuator for exoskeleton applications .
A VUB-R&MM spin-off is the best strategy to bring this technology to the market, given the need of highly specialized experience to further develop the actuators and to offer the customization services required by the industry. A phased approach, starting with an application area where our own experience showed us there is a need and later growing to a wider range of actuators for different applications is the best way forward.
In a market with such an explosive growth come opportunities. Not only for integrators who will assemble and sell full solutions such as a full body exoskeleton, but also for suppliers to these integrators and even the research institutes who are often at the base of these products. Given the high level of expertise needed to develop compliant actuators, the benefits they bring in terms of ensuring safe human-robot interaction and the limited number of known players on the market developing and marketing this type of actuators we see an open niche in the market where new companies can play a role. Establishing a new European company offering robotic actuators will also strengthen the European robotics ecosystem, and will help Europe to translate its huge efforts on supporting robotics R&D towards a real impact in the European economy. The high complexity and relative immaturity of the technology makes entry for new players wanting to market wearable robotic applications difficult. Having an ecosystem of suppliers ready to help and offering standardized products can greatly diminish the complexity and difficulty, and can allow for increasing competition in this market. A spin off bringing advanced yet ready made actuators on the market will greatly help establish a cross value chain robotics ecosystem in Europe. Europe will not become a consumer of robotic technologies and components, but a producer.
As part of the SMARCOS project, a first prototype of a smart modular actuator has been developped, in close concertation with possible customers, and a initial market study conducted to gage the actual market demand and opportunity.
