Scientists are finding new ways to change light bulbs

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1. Scientists Are Finding New Ways To Change Light Bulbs

2. The other day a light bulb in my ceiling fan went out and I could not reach it.

3. Thinking about how I be would be able to reach the light bulb.

4. I remembered reading an article about how a robotic arm can change light bulbs.

5. What Goes Into Making The Hand

6. The researchers could actually scrimp in numerous clever ways.

7. "One was scouring world for the most cost effective, highest-performing components like motors, gears, etcetera," says Curt Salisbury, this project's principal investigator.

8. "Another was to build the complete electronics system from commodity parts, especially those found in cell phones."

9. We also moved from metal structural elements to plastic, being careful to style the structures so the plastic would offer adequate strength.

10. The Hand's current incarnation has only four fingers, including very similar to an opposable thumb.

11. "The truth is that for a wide variety of manipulation tasks that humans do, four fingers is all you need to do," Salisbury says.

12. Still, future iterations no matter what the Hand could have several fingers as well as arrangement patients fingers without adding much cost or complexity.

13. The Sandia Hand's fingers are modular and affixed to the hand frame via magnets.

14. This gives the researchers the pliability to style, interchangeable appendages tipped with screwdrivers, flashlights, cameras together with other tools.

15. The fingers can also be invented to detach automatically to stay clear of damage in the event the hand hits a wall or another solid object too hard.

16. The researchers say the hand can even be manipulated to retrieve and reattach a fallen finger.

17. How The Hand Is Controlled

18. While the Hand might someday be programmed to operate autonomously, right now a human controls the device using probably a sensor-laden glove or a basic control panel.

19. The glove is a custom design that reads a person's hand posture and attempts to copy that with the robot hand, Salisbury says.

20. The communication protocol at once this is definitely USB cable, but may very well be upgraded to incorporate any wireless communications approach, he adds.

21. The team's goal is to produce a glove that costs about $1,000.

22. Sandia researchers are trying upgrades to the Hand, including a palm with two embedded cameras that convey stereo images to a human operator in the course of the grasping sequence.

23. "Afterward," Salisbury says, "we hope this kind of technology will move to field tests."

24. There will be videos of the Sandia Hand demonstrating quite a few capabilities, including lifting a suitcase, choosing a telephone handset and, perhaps most impressively, dropping a AA battery right into a flashlight.