Shadow Robot – creating a robot hand with ‘human’ intelligence

The company

Shadow Robot was set up in 1997 by a group of people who were building

robots for fun and needed a way to sell them. It’s grown from its 2 original

founders to 21 employees.

The problem

Shadow Robot wanted to move out of the research lab and into industry but

didn’t have the resources to commercialise its products.

The story

A robot hand that can make its own decisions on how to pick up, grip and

release objects seems like science fiction. But grant funding from Innovate UK

has helped a small London-based company develop a system – Grasp

Stabilization and Control (GSC) – that makes it possible.

“It uses algorithms and software to mimic what goes on in the human brain, so a

robot hand can do the things that you or I do naturally – see an object, pick it

up, hold it and put it down,” said Rich Walker, Managing Director of the Shadow

Robot Company.

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Shadow Robot grew out of a group of people who built robots for fun.

“We only set up the company in 1997 because one of the people we were

working with said we had to be a company for them to pay us. But about five

years ago we realised it could be a real business,” Rich said.

By this point they had developed the Shadow Dextrous Hand, a robot hand with

20 movements (most robot grippers have two). It was selling, but to a niche

market of researchers investigating the use of robots.

Beyond the lab

The company had identified other applications, especially in hazardous

environments like nuclear plants or bomb disposal. But while potential

customers were interested, they wanted to see a model that worked outside lab

conditions and that could be easily adapted to meet their needs.

Shadow Robot had done some initial work on autonomous control software with

Kings College London in 2012 as part of a large European project, HANDLE.

“This got us as far as a system that worked in a research lab on a good day –

not good enough for commercial uses,” said Rich.

An Innovate UK competition for developing novel concepts in autonomous

service robots came along at the right time. Shadow Robot was awarded grant

funding of £69,782 towards total project costs of £93,043 for the GSC project

which ran for 12 months from mid-2013.

It used the funding to get a demonstration system ready for Automatica, the

robot trade fair held in Munich in May 2014.

“We took a hand and a 3D camera. It could see an object on a table and, with

the software, work out a number of ways to hold it,” Rich explained.

The Dexterous Hand also travelled to California in June 2014 when Shadow

Robot was selected as one of only 7 UK companies to take part in a Robotics

Mission led by Innovate UK and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to showcase

the best of UK technology to peers, partners, investors and potential customers.

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“Before we had the demonstration system potential customers had trouble

seeing how they could use the robot hand, now they can see its potential,” Rich

commented.

A range of applications

This leap forward opens up big markets like nuclear decommissioning –

estimated at £25 billion worldwide. And it gives Shadow Robot two entry points

since it can either use GSC software to enhance its own robot or sell it as an

add-on to other designs.

It’s early days yet, but Rich believes the project will mean significant changes

for the business. Shadow Robot is already talking to major companies in

several sectors including pharmaceuticals, logistics, food manufacturing and the

automotive supply chain about ways they can use the Dexterous Hand and the

GSC software.

Shadow Robot is also applying to Innovate UK for grant funding for a follow-up

collaborative R&D project involving end users to take the system to this next

stage.

“We’re doing stuff no one in the world is doing. We have a working model, and

we’ve shown potential customers how it could work for them. The next step is

working with partners to see how it can be used in an industrial setting,” said

Rich.

It’s the way Innovate UK bridges the development gap between the research

lab and commercial viability that makes it so valuable, according to Rich.

“Innovate UK helps companies like us make that critical transition from boutique

engineering to rugged industrial engineering – from a system that just works in

the lab to one with real commercial applications. It’s a great model.”  

http://www.innovateuk.gov.uk

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