Maintenance Technology September 2017 - 12

PLANT PROFILE
Right. The Bionic Handling Assistant operates
in a light, free-moving, and flexible manner
and was inspired by the movement of an
elephant's trunk.
Below. Festo's corporate headquarters in
Esslingen, Germany, is home to its intelligent
automation research and development.

Biomechanitronics in Action
to operate as productively as possible. We develop the products
and technologies for factory and process automation of the
future that will increase productivity and drive this transformation," he added.
Understanding the need for intelligent technology, the
company finds unique sources of inspiration.
"Every year we study another group of animals, depending
on the important topics driving our business," Schilly said.
"If we are thinking about communication and collaboration,
what can we learn from ants? If we are exploring mobility and
loading stations, what can we learn from jellyfish? If we want to
develop a gripper system, what can we learn from chameleons
and how their tongue reaches out and grabs something with
a delicate-but-sticky substance? Or we may explore how the
gecko is capable of climbing walls vertically. How are its feet
constructed and what can we learn from vacuum systems and
how to translate this to automation?"
Industry 4.0 is where Festo is well positioned to help factories
become smarter by using machines that communicate with
other machines and providing more data to control and operate
the factory, which in effect, optimizes time and cost. "We are
talking about levels of artificial intelligence that we don't have
today," Schilly explained. "We know how connected people are
on social media, and we will see the same thing happening in
the near future with devices. All of that needs to be supported
with automation. Conventional technology plus artificial intelligence plus communication plus networking capabilities-that
is our understanding of what Industry 4.0 means for the future."

Biomechanitronics
With robots becoming more prevalent in manufacturing and
working closely with humans, Festo invests considerable effort
in the application of biological principles to the engineering
world. Each year, a new animal prototype is introduced at the
Hanover Messe Automation Fair, Hanover, Germany.
"They all have distinct functions," Schilly said. "In the past,

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MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY

Follow these linked items at maintenancetechnology.com to
see videos of the Bionic Learning Network robots in action.
■ Bionic Learning Network: /1709festo01
■ Bionic Handling Assistant: /1709festo02
■ BionicANTS: /1709festo03
■ AquaJellies: /1709festo04
■ BionicKangaroo: /1709festo05
■ SmartBird: /1709festo06
■ Festo's apprenticeship program: /1709festo07

heavy-duty industrial robots were operated from a cage to
protect workers from getting hurt. Today, we see robots working
with and supporting the worker. Festo's Bionic Handling
Assistant can grip delicate objects like eggs or lightbulbs without
destroying them, and is capable of handing these objects to a
person safely. Today's robotic arms are equipped with sensors
that are programmed to stop as soon as a person crosses its path.
Safety is a key element in the factory of the future."
Company engineers also study the motion and control of
birds in flight.
"To make a bionic robot fly with the natural movement of
the bird's wing and tail and head, outdoors with wind and real
natural conditions, is a real engineering innovation challenge,"
Schilly said. "The Festo SmartBird flies purely by the flapping of
its wings and without any additional drive mechanism, such as a
propeller. This is truly remarkable and exactly what we want our
R&D engineers to learn."
In the case of the BionicANTs, their bodies are made of
lightweight, innovative materials and considerable technology
embedded in a small space to ensure vision, motion, and
control. The purpose of this project was to explore communication processes and collaborative behavior in nature. Ants in
animal form perfectly coordinate their activities, and these ant
robots are also able to communicate with simple communication protocols. This is what we need to learn for machine
SEPTEMBER 2017

http://www.maintenancetechnology.com http://maintenancetechnology.com/1709festo01 http://maintenancetechnology.com/1709festo02 http://maintenancetechnology.com/1709festo03 http://maintenancetechnology.com/1709festo04 http://maintenancetechnology.com/1709festo05 http://maintenancetechnology.com/1709festo06 http://maintenancetechnology.com/1709festo07

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maintenance Technology September 2017