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Barrett Technology, Inc.* has successfully created and commercialized a brushless servo electronics module. The Puck™ module is a powerful universal controller that replaces controller cabinets with a device that weighs 43 grams and can be powered by batteries. The controller increases portability, lowers power consumption, and improves reliability of robotics. Barrett incorporated the technology, which was developed with Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (Goddard), into the design of its robotic arms that it has sold for use in surgical robots and to numerous researchers. The company plans to make the module adaptable to a wide range of brushless servomotor applications. It has recently won a National Science Foundation (NSF)* grant to further commercialize the technology. Puck and WAM are trademarks of Barrett Technology, Inc. Benefits of Technology Transfer
About Barrett Technology Barrett Technology of Cambridge, MA, provides flexible, machine-intelligent robotic arms and hands. The company was spun out of the Artificial Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1990 to bring a haptic robot arm, named the WAM™ arm, to market. Because the market did not yet exist for haptic devices, Barrett honed the technology during the 1990s with grants from the Department of Energy, NASA, and the NSF. Today, the company has commercial customers and sells to advanced robotics laboratories all over the world. Addressing a Technology Need Barrett had grappled with the issue of power control for robots for several years. Robots could never be used beyond controlled industrial settings unless they could be made light, portable, and able to sense human touch to be safe for use around people. Haptic robotics enhanced safety but were still encumbered by the need for as much as 10 pounds of wire inside the robot arm itself. NASA, meanwhile, was looking for a way to power microsatellites, and thus funded Barrett’s research into developing a lightweight servo-electronics module through its SBIR program. Barrett worked at minimizing the components necessary—eventually eliminating 90 percent of the traditional parts in a servo-electronics module and cooling the remaining components using conduction, rather than convection, technology. The Puck innovation also integrates precise rotor-position sensing and has its own 32-bit CPU, eliminating most of the wiring normally associated with brushless applications. The device requires so little power that a set can drive a WAM robotic arm from only five 9-volt batteries for 18 minutes. This technology could be applied to flywheel technology for use on microsatellites or as a low-energy means of powering devices on Earth. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Carnegie Mellon University have expressed interest in the technology, as have NASA scientists working on the Mars Rover and Moon Rover projects. Finding Other Uses Nearly all industrial precision machines rely on brushless servomotors that must be housed in a large separate controller cabinet. An NSF grant is enabling Barrett to develop features to make the Puck module universally adaptable to a wide range of brushless servomotor applications. In addition, Barrett was able to integrate the technology into its own robotic arms, which have been sold to MAKO Surgical*, a company that provides robotics to surgeons. The University of Pittsburgh* and the German Primate Center (DZP)* are deciphering how human and primate brains use motor control and force feedback to learn how to move limbs. General Motors is using the portable arm system mounted on an autonomous mobile platform to perform complex assembly tasks on the assembly line. A razor company uses the WAM arm to give and compare shave quality with different razor designs. Puck-enabled control force is essential in this task. The University of Alberta* has mounted the portable WAMs on a two-wheel Segway. The arms help control the Segway by shifting pose in real time. Iowa State University and the University of California at Merced* have built pairs of WAM arms onto human-like torsos to study complex manipulation. Other WAM-arm customers are using the systems to develop manipulation strategies that navigate by touch, which is critical for using robots in environments where machine-vision cannot see the entire scene at all times. The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago* is using the WAM arm to help stroke patients who interact directly with the system to recover more quickly. The arm creates computer-generated force fields that the person experiences by moving a handle attached at the end of the arm. The Transfer Process The SBIR program is a highly competitive three-phase program that reserves a specific percentage of federal research and development (R&D) funding for award to small businesses to move ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace, foster high-tech economic development, and to address the technological needs of the federal government. Barrett developed the Puck module under a Phase 1 SBIR program award from Goddard in 2002. Looking Ahead By creating lighter, more portable robots, Barrett’s technology can drive innovation in the use of sophisticated robots. The greatly reduced weight requirements could broaden the use of robots on space missions. Barrett’s next step is to make the controller even smaller. The present Puck module is shaped like a hockey puck, but is one-tenth the volume. The new Puck module will be smaller and handle from 1 horsepower (700 watts) of motor power at the high end down to the tiniest brushless motors made. The company recently received a Phase II grant from the NSF to pursue that work. Contact Details about NASA's SBIR program are available at the SBIR/STTR Web site*. If you would like more information about the SBIR program and other technology transfer opportunities, please contact: Innovative Partnerships Program Office (2009) |
On the Record “If it weren’t for the SBIR, we couldn’t have made progress on the Puck module. With long-term research like this, you need to keep a researcher working on it continuously. If you don’t have the funding and lose your researcher, you lose your core competency.’’ “NASA can use robots in space with plenty of redundancies and lower power draw. On Earth, robots are being used – and can be used more frequently – to help rehabilitate stroke victims or to help the disabled with daily activities.’’ “Barrett did a very good job with the servo drive module. The module has applications to flywheels which are a possible solution to energy storage issues. This could reinvigorate interest in flywheel technology.’’ + Download printable Success Story |
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