Barrett Technology Inc., of Cambridge, Massachusetts, completed three Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts with Johnson Space Center. In 1989, the company worked with NASA on a Phase II to create a robotic arm, and in 1991, was again awarded a Phase II to create a hand. Nearly a decade later, the company was awarded a third Phase II for further miniaturization of the components that comprise the robotic devices.
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00:00:01 about 20 years ago NASA was busy making plans for the world's largest space station they were hoping to find robotic technology that could work safely alongside astronauts and assist in construction of the orbiting laboratory although robots were already being used on the floors of large manufacturing facilities those machines lacked the adaptability and dexterity NASA needed
00:00:26 in space but a small group of MIT researchers were working hard to design a safer more humanfriendly robot those early efforts resulted in the whole arm manipulator or Wham arm Dr Bill Townsen one of the original MIT team members formed Barrett technology to develop and commercialize the Wham NASA also saw potential in the advanced Robotics and soon partnered with the Massachusetts
00:00:55 company through the small business Innovation research or sbir program and effort to improve the technology for future use on space missions the amount of dexterity that's required and the amount of sensitivity that's required is quite different than anything that's been developed before now and therefore NASA's had to go well outside of the the norm in terms of what's been developed
00:01:17 to date the sbir partnership with NASA and other government organizations LED Barrett technology to develop and build what has since been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's most advanced Advanced robotic arm contact forces sensed along the Wham arm are immediately felt at each of the arms Motors that capability coupled with gear free cable drives enable the robot
00:01:43 to interact gracefully with walls objects and even people the whole arm can be used to maneuver objects like a person carrying a large bag of groceries might the Wham arm is possible because of another breakthrough device developed by Barrett through NASA's sbir program called the puck this compact module eliminates the need for the bulky refrigerator siiz metal external
00:02:09 controller cabinets typically required with robot Arms by consolidating all the electronics into one little module we're able to eliminate this 90% of the electronics and that meant that the efficiency goes way up the size goes way down and the reliability goes way up weighing less than 2 ounces with power efficiency approaching 100% ENT the puck enables a new class of Robotics that can
00:02:34 be used on mobile platforms and repurposed for a variety of responsibilities the puck is a game Cher it really it it will it will not only change what NASA does but it's likely to change what people do across all Industries in the future NASA Johnson also partnered with Barrett technology through the sbir program to develop the bar at hand the Innovative robotic
00:03:00 grasper can intelligently decide how to best handle objects that vary in size shape and orientation the hand easily integrates with arms built by other manufacturers that saves time and money since operators no longer have to switch out robotic graspers for different jobs Barrett's sbir supported technological advancements are changing perceptions of how robots can work safely alongside
00:03:27 people in more situations than ever before and with hundreds of products sold to organizations around the globe it's easy to see that the capabilities NASA was looking for in space robots are also valuable here on [Music] Earth
