Kinema Pick Robot

Hospital supply managers handle an enormous range of items from delicate instruments to bed dressings, and cleaning solvents. In most cases, items come in by truck, are sorted by hand, and stored until needed. A few hospitals use automated tugs to move things around and deliver them from warehouse to places where they will be used, but medical materials management has a long way to go toward becoming automated. In this piece, Kinema Systems (Menlo Park, CA) has a new robotic arm assisted by 3-D computer vision. The arm automatically calibrates itself to a container’s size and shape, and remembers (i.e. self-training) how to handle the same box seconds or months later.   MORE WITH VIDEO

Image Credit: Kinema Systems