Toyota Research Institute (TRI) debuts Punyo, a soft-bodied robot designed to help with everyday tasks, whether it be lifting a water jug or closing a drawer. Its name comes from the Japanese word “punyo” (ぷにょ), which refers to something soft, cute, and resilient.
This robot’s hands, arms, and chest are equipped with compliant materials as well as tactile sensors so it can feel contact. The soft-body allows Punyo to conform to the items it’s manipulating, thus ensuring stability, increased friction, and evenly distributed contact forces. Its arms – from shoulder to wrist – are covered in air-filled ‘bubbles’ that connect via a tube to a pressure sensor which senses forces applied to the outer surface. The robot does not yet have fingers or thumbs, just “paws” made from a single high-friction latex bubble with a camera inside.
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The bubbles covering the arms are built using molded heat-sealed PVC panels. A single large bubble covers Punyo’s wrist without limiting the robot’s ability to move the joints underneath. The rest of the arm bubbles are six smaller rings comprising two chambers each, one chamber on the inside of the arm and another on the outside,” said Toyota Research Institute.
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