Sealing arrangement including a sealing element arranged to seal a gap between a proximal member and a distal member, the sealing element including a sealing material configured to withstand a temperature of at least 100 C.; and a heating element arranged to heat the sealing material to at least 70 C. An industrial robot including at least one sealing arrangement and a method for sterilizing a sealing element are also provided.

A mechanical finger for a mechanical hand, has: a proximal phalanx pivotably mountable to a support of the mechanical hand to pivot relative to the support about a finger pivot axis; a distal phalanx pivotably connected to the proximal phalanx via a first living hinge to pivot relative to the proximal phalanx about a first pivot axis; and a skeleton member pivotably connected at one end to the distal phalanx via a second living hinge to pivot relative to the distal phalanx about a second pivot axis offset from the first pivot axis and at another end operatively connected to an actuator of the mechanical hand to be selectively movable by the actuator to pivot the distal phalanx relative to the proximal phalanx and to pivot the distal phalanx relative to the support when the finger is in use.

A non-Cartesian coordinate positioning machine that includes an extendable leg assembly for positioning a component such as a measurement probe within a working volume of the machine. The extendable leg assembly includes a first member and a second member which move relative to one another when the extendable leg assembly changes length. The first member including an axial arrangement of magnets forming part of a linear motor for extending and retracting the extendable leg assembly, and at least one resilient member for absorbing at least some of any axial thermal expansion or contraction of the magnets in use.

A soft robot having an integrated electrical component includes an expandable or collapsible body, the body comprising an inlet that is configured to communicate with a fluid source and a flexible strain limited layer secured to a portion of the expandable or collapsible body, wherein the strain limited layer includes at least one electrical component.

Provided is a hollow-type rotary actuator. For example, a rotary actuator used in a joint part of an industrial robot is provided with: a hollow motor having a hollow rotary shaft; a hollow reduction gear having a hollow input shaft that is arranged coaxially with the rotary shaft and is coupled to the rotary shaft; a tubular member disposed on the inner peripheral side of the rotary shaft and the input shaft; and a holding member that holds one end side of the tubular member. The holding member is provided with a holding portion, in which a through-hole communicating with the inner peripheral side of the tubular member is formed. In the rotary actuator, one end side of the tubular member is held by the holding portion, and the other end side of the tubular member is loosely fitted to the output side portion of the hollow reduction gear.

A robot system includes a robot having an arm pivoting about a pivot axis (first pivot axis), a motor (first motor) pivoting the arm, a shaft (spline shaft) coupled to the arm and moving in an axial direction of a linear motion axis parallel to the pivot axis, and an inertial sensor provided in the arm or shaft, and a control apparatus having a control unit controlling the motor, wherein the inertial sensor detects an angular velocity about a roll axis orthogonal to the pivot axis and the linear motion axis or an acceleration in a tangential direction of a circle around the roll axis, and the control unit controls the motor based on information representing a pivot direction of the arm about the roll axis when the arm stops or decelerates and output from the inertial sensor.

Provided is an artificial epidermis structure. Three different contact states can be realized between the artificial epidermis structure and a target object. The first contact state is a state in which only the surface of a distal end portion of each protrusion contacts the target object. The second contact state is a state in which each protrusion tilts with respect to a base body corresponding to the force received from the target object and thereby the surface of a base portion and the surface of the distal end portion of each protrusion contact the target object. The third contact state is a state in which each protrusion further tilts with respect to the base body corresponding to an increase in the force and thereby the surface of the base body and respective surface of the distal end portion and the base portion of each protrusion contact the target object.

A robot system includes a robot having an arm including a first arm coupled to a base and pivoting about a first pivot axis and a second arm coupled to the first arm and pivoting about a second pivot axis parallel to the first pivot axis, and a first motor pivoting the first arm about the first pivot axis, and a control apparatus having a first motor control unit that controls the first motor. The robot has an inertial sensor that detects an angular velocity about a roll axis of the arm or an acceleration in a tangential direction of a circle around the roll axis, and the first motor control unit controls the first motor based on the angular velocity or acceleration.

The present invention relates to a metering robot for dispensing liquid and/or pasty media having three degrees of freedom of movement oriented perpendicular to one another, having a base having two first linear guides spaced apart in parallel from one another; a portal bridge that is supported in a travelable manner on the two linear guides and that has a second linear guide oriented perpendicular to the two first linear guides; and a third linear guide for the movable guiding of a cart for receiving a metering unit that is oriented perpendicular to the first and second linear guides and that is travelable along the second linear guide. The metering robot has a work space that extends in a region that is located in the longitudinal direction of the two first linear guides in a prolongation of the region that extends directly between the two first linear guides.

A gripping device includes a bag-shaped gripping body, a plurality of elastic portions, and a shape holding portion. The gripping body includes a palm portion, and a plurality of finger portions protruding from a periphery of the palm portion and configured to fall toward the palm portion by deforming the palm portion in a thickness direction. The plurality of elastic portions is respectively provided in the plurality of finger portions, each of the plurality of elastic portions having a shape of each of the plurality of finger portions. The shape holding portion is provided in the gripping body to prevent contraction of an outer periphery of the palm portion. The shape holding portion includes a guide bore for receiving the palm portion when being deformed, and a curved portion provided on an outer side of a distal end of the shape holding portion in an axial direction of the guide bore. The distal end faces the plurality of finger portions.