Bioservo and NASA Join Forces to Merge Man with Machine Using RoboGlove

Before I ever became a writer, I used to be a factory worker. I worked in several different factories over the years and the work was always physically straining. Especially if you had to use your hands and the strength in your arms a lot. Over time, while it might be somewhat beneficial in building up muscles, it usually resulted in gradual physical degradation.

Factory work simply isn’t easy. I’ll choose writing over factory work any day of the week, but others don’t have that luxury. And to ensure they’re protected, we’re going to have to figure out ways in alleviating the physical stress being forced upon their bodies. Thanks to a new partnership between Bioservo Technologies, GM, and NASA, the answer to our plea for help might just be one RoboHand away.

Below is a video showing the GM and NASA’s RoboGlove’s capabilities.

A concept design for how the RoboGlove will interact with NASA’s own personal robot in space.
Photo Credit: General Motors

In 2011, during a nine-year collaboration between GM and NASA, the humanoid robot Robonaut 2 was sent to the International Space Station. The RoboGlove was developed during this collaboration as a means of integrating the physical strength of their robot to that of humans. It was applied as a force-multiplying wearable that helped humans become stronger than their biological capacities allow them to be.

Now Bioservo Technologies are joining forces with both companies to help increase efficiency in their RoboGlove. Bioservo will be combining GM-NASA’s technology with that of their own, known as the SEM Glove (Soft Extra Muscle). It’ll use biologically-inspired sensors, actuators, and tendons to help increase strength and allow people to handle equipment and tools they normally wouldn’t be able to in a significant way.

FUTURE IMPLICATIONS

What we’re looking at here is the merging of man and machine. The RoboHand is a unique extension to the growing exoskeleton market that will soon cascade across all industries which require physical work. By combining the strength of robots to that of humans, we’ll be able to increase the efficiency of our work, all the while ensuring the health of our human workers aren’t being strained beyond their limits. This technology will also be used to help those whom are disabled to become able-bodied again, and even our senior citizen population, helping them become as mobile as when they were young.