Robots are different. Most often, hearing the word “robot”, we imagine an anthropomorphic mechanical being resembling the latest designs by the famous company Boston Dynamics. But this concept is much broader. Researchers from Harvard University have created tiny robot milliDelta, which can not boast of the fact that similar to humans, but today it certainly is the fastest and most accurate in its class.
MilliDelta the robot is able to move with incredible speeds of up to 75 strokes per second. If you send movement to the camera, he turns into a blur. Developers from Harvard’s see a huge number of applications for their offspring. In the future it can become part of the Assembly lines where you will be able to quickly create the PCB, or become part of a high-precision medical equipment to help doctors in the field of microsurgery.
milliDelta belongs to the category of so-called “Delta robots”. This design was developed still in 80-e years of the last century and often used in various factories and industries. These robots are installed on Assembly lines and was engaged in the installation of different parts in their place in the overall design or just the shifting/sorting items. The first Delta robot was used in 1985 at the candy factory and was engaged in that sort of praline (dessert made of ground almonds, fried in sugar) on the packaging. Below you can see a video showing these robots in the workplace.
Thanks to modern technology, the developers have managed dozens of times to reduce the size of the Delta robot milliDelta. Instead of the electric motor equipped with piezoelectric actuators. Letting the voltage through the “manipulators” of the robot, the researchers can bend and straighten them with incredible accuracy and speed. Below you can find a video that demonstrates the incredible speed milliDelta and precision of his movements.
“The fast Delta robots today are able to make movements with a frequency of a few Hertz, while our robot is moving at a speed of 75 Hz, and it is 15-25 times faster than anything available today in the market of industrial robots. First we thought that it will be possible to use these robots during operations on the eyes. When you’re a surgeon and work with such a sensitive organ, any slight tremor of the hands can hurt. Our robot is incredibly accurate and will never make unnecessary rough”, — says press Harvard researcher Haley McClintock.
At Harvard have created the world’s fastest miniature robot
Sergey Grey