Pittsburgh, US, January 5 — One of many presenters at CES 2023 was Ansys, a company dedicated to developing modeling and simulation software for advanced engineering. They talked about some things other companies have achieved using their software.
One such company was Halodi Robotics, which created EVE, a human-friendly robot made to work alongside people.
Why do robots not usually work alongside people?
According to Bernt Øivind Børnich, CEO of Halodi Robotics, for robots to work in human environments, they need to have three characteristics: safety, capability, and affordability. He claims that robots in factories are capable and somewhat affordable, but not safe.
Børnich explains that robots make forceful, high-speed movements that could harm someone if approached carelessly. He also claims some robots can talk, walk and wave their hands, but not much else. They are, therefore, not capable.
Due to this belief and wanting to make robot workers and assistants a reality, he helped create Halodi Robotics. This company’s goal was to revolutionize robotics by creating affordable, capable robots that are safe for people, even those without special training.
The result of this is EVE, the human-friendly robot. According to Børnich, this robot can do many tasks while moving with low energy, making it harmless even if things go wrong.
How Ansys contributed
EVE was made possible by using Ansys technology. At first, the company’s software was too costly for a small startup like Halodi. However, they were able to get their hands on the necessary programs through the Ansys Startup Program.
This is an initiative by Ansys to provide their software to small startups. Halodi used this tech to simulate and model EVE. They were able to reduce development time by months.
The software helped develop motors for EVE which are powerful enough to lift heavy objects, but gentle enough to bump into humans without harming them. This is achieved by lowering the amount of energy the robot uses to move.
The robot’s motors work on a similar principle to the human muscles. They use synthetic fiber threads, along with lightweight, low-speed, high-torque motors.
Børnich claims that EVE “has about three times more power to weight than anything you can buy commercially off the shelf in that size.”
Areas where EVE can work
Børnich says the first area EVE will work in is security since it can patrol hallways and check for anything abnormal. A human operator can supervise the robot and even control it remotely, should the need arise.
However, the robot can handle most issues by itself, and it even learns to handle more situations after receiving instructions remotely.
Other areas such as retail and logistics were mentioned. However, the final objective for EVE is for it to work in healthcare. The robot could take care of sick or old people when there is nobody available to do so or assist nurses.
It seems like the field of robots has made great strides in different areas such as the construction and food and beverages industries. Maybe sometime soon, robots will walk among us, and they’ll be so common, people won’t even notice them anymore.
YouTube: Ansys + Halodi Robotics: Engineering Helpful Humanoid Robots
Photo credit: The images used are owned by Halodi Robotics and have been provided for press usage.
