7 ms·

These Robots Are Using Static Electricity to Make Nikes

57 points by hourislate 9y ago

mrfusion 9y ago
Seems like there are better uses for this technology than making sneakers. Could we activate electrostatic adhesion on tires to enhance road grip when braking? Can we use it for climbing walls? Walking in 0 G?
- learn_more 9y ago
  the article mentioned wall climbing as a prior pursuit, with less of a market.
- QAPereo 9y ago
  Better uses? Sure. More lucrative ones? Maybe not.
- jonknee 9y ago
  SRI is working on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4DHfNtZGts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4DHfNtZGts https://www.sri.com/sites/default/files/brochures/sri_wallclimbingrobots.pdf https://www.sri.com/sites/default/files/brochures/sri_wallcl...
- chadgeidel 9y ago
  Boring old rubber car tires can already grip at 1+ G. Tire technology isn't currently a safety limitation in road cars.
whatupmd 9y ago
Most over-used adjective in internet journalism - 'quietly'.
tlb 9y ago
Electroadhesion is a cool technology. The robot pictured, however, seems to use suction generated by fans. I don't see any high-voltage electronics or wiring.
- NegativeLatency 9y ago
  Yeah those look like brushless electric motors, the kind used in RC vehicles.
  - nomel 9y ago
    Most likely for cooling the lethal HV electronics under than protective barrier.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  They have a bunch of YouTube videos. The fabric handling doesn't look like suction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5XBNxLpBGA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5XBNxLpBGA This demo looks like the technology doesn't involve a lot of heavy duty electronics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iZp-dCYp70 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iZp-dCYp70
  - olivermarks 9y ago
    I'd love to see video footage of this tech in action with humans making shoes, 'demo' vids tend to be overly simplistic. Fascinating stuff!
- jonknee 9y ago
  They have wireless electroadhesion robots (drones, wall climbers, etc) so it's not something you'd notice from how a machine looks on the outside.
  - beambot 9y ago
    Case in point: http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/08/06/electroadhesive-robot-climbers http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/08/06/electroadhesive-robot-...
- louithethrid 9y ago
  Are you sure it uses fans? Usually in robotics venturi-valves are used to create the necessary sucktion to hold pieces. This seems like a really strange approach. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi-D%C3%BCse https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi-D%C3%BCse
NegativeLatency 9y ago
> Miller acknowledges that shifting work towards automated factories could threaten jobs, but argues that more efficient manufacturing plants will create better jobs for displaced workers. How exactly?
- devopsproject 9y ago
  Supply Side Jesus™
- jbob2000 9y ago
  Instead of the workers doing the work, they will move to maintaining the machines that do the work. Or they will move to QA to correct imperfect automation or to increase quality in general. These jobs are less physically demanding and less risky, so I'd consider them "better".
  - Retric 9y ago
    That might work for say 5% of the work force, but what happens to the other 95%. Remember, a single factory may have similar number of workers, but it's going to produce a lot more stuff so at the industry level there are going to be massive cuts when say self driving trucks become the norm. Automation does produce a surplus, but total wealth is in many ways less important than median wealth.
    - KekDemaga 9y ago
      Many workers will move on to other sectors and spend the money earned there to buy dramatically cheaper goods from the owners of the machines that replaced them.
      - maxerickson 9y ago
        I'll bet you a pair of Nike shoes that Nike shoes don't get a whole lot cheaper anytime soon.
Animats 9y ago
Their fabric handling is reasonable, but not a breakthrough. They're laying flat pieces of fabric on top of other flat pieces.[1] A human flattens out the pieces and feeds them in. This has been done before with vacuum pickers.[2] There's also an approach where the fabric is starched first to make it stiff for robot handling. After assembly, the garment is washed to remove the starch.[3] Dealing with fabric that isn't flat is a popular robotics research topic, but results are not very good.[4] Willow Robotics used to have a demo of towel folding with a robot, but it was extremely slow. [1] https://grabitinc.com/ https://grabitinc.com/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI7u9V5aYt4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI7u9V5aYt4 [3] http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/11/technology/robots-garment-manufacturing-sewbo/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/11/technology/robots-garment-ma... [4] http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.689.3116&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.689...
userbinator 9y ago
It somehow reminds me of http://amasci.com/weird/unusual/e-wall.html http://amasci.com/weird/unusual/e-wall.html
TFortunato 9y ago
Just as a little fun fact -- in the semiconductor industry, this has been a major method of wafer handling for quite a while, where the wafer handling bit is known as an "electrostatic chuck." If you google that term, you can find a LOT of info on how this type of system works since it's been around, used in production and studied for quite a while!

57 points by hourislate 9y ago

Seems like there are better uses for this technology than making sneakers. Could we activate electrostatic adhesion on tires to enhance road grip when braking? Can we use it for climbing walls? Walking in 0 G?

learn_more 9y ago
the article mentioned wall climbing as a prior pursuit, with less of a market.
QAPereo 9y ago
Better uses? Sure. More lucrative ones? Maybe not.
jonknee 9y ago
SRI is working on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4DHfNtZGts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4DHfNtZGts https://www.sri.com/sites/default/files/brochures/sri_wallclimbingrobots.pdf https://www.sri.com/sites/default/files/brochures/sri_wallcl...
chadgeidel 9y ago
Boring old rubber car tires can already grip at 1+ G. Tire technology isn't currently a safety limitation in road cars.

whatupmd 9y ago

Most over-used adjective in internet journalism - 'quietly'.

tlb 9y ago

Electroadhesion is a cool technology. The robot pictured, however, seems to use suction generated by fans. I don't see any high-voltage electronics or wiring.

NegativeLatency 9y ago
Yeah those look like brushless electric motors, the kind used in RC vehicles.
- nomel 9y ago
  Most likely for cooling the lethal HV electronics under than protective barrier.
maxerickson 9y ago
They have a bunch of YouTube videos. The fabric handling doesn't look like suction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5XBNxLpBGA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5XBNxLpBGA This demo looks like the technology doesn't involve a lot of heavy duty electronics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iZp-dCYp70 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iZp-dCYp70
- olivermarks 9y ago
  I'd love to see video footage of this tech in action with humans making shoes, 'demo' vids tend to be overly simplistic. Fascinating stuff!
jonknee 9y ago
They have wireless electroadhesion robots (drones, wall climbers, etc) so it's not something you'd notice from how a machine looks on the outside.
- beambot 9y ago
  Case in point: http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/08/06/electroadhesive-robot-climbers http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/08/06/electroadhesive-robot-...
louithethrid 9y ago
Are you sure it uses fans? Usually in robotics venturi-valves are used to create the necessary sucktion to hold pieces. This seems like a really strange approach. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi-D%C3%BCse https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi-D%C3%BCse

NegativeLatency 9y ago

> Miller acknowledges that shifting work towards automated factories could threaten jobs, but argues that more efficient manufacturing plants will create better jobs for displaced workers. How exactly?

devopsproject 9y ago
Supply Side Jesus™
jbob2000 9y ago
Instead of the workers doing the work, they will move to maintaining the machines that do the work. Or they will move to QA to correct imperfect automation or to increase quality in general. These jobs are less physically demanding and less risky, so I'd consider them "better".
- Retric 9y ago
  That might work for say 5% of the work force, but what happens to the other 95%. Remember, a single factory may have similar number of workers, but it's going to produce a lot more stuff so at the industry level there are going to be massive cuts when say self driving trucks become the norm. Automation does produce a surplus, but total wealth is in many ways less important than median wealth.
  - KekDemaga 9y ago
    Many workers will move on to other sectors and spend the money earned there to buy dramatically cheaper goods from the owners of the machines that replaced them.
    - maxerickson 9y ago
      I'll bet you a pair of Nike shoes that Nike shoes don't get a whole lot cheaper anytime soon.

Animats 9y ago

Their fabric handling is reasonable, but not a breakthrough. They're laying flat pieces of fabric on top of other flat pieces.[1] A human flattens out the pieces and feeds them in. This has been done before with vacuum pickers.[2] There's also an approach where the fabric is starched first to make it stiff for robot handling. After assembly, the garment is washed to remove the starch.[3] Dealing with fabric that isn't flat is a popular robotics research topic, but results are not very good.[4] Willow Robotics used to have a demo of towel folding with a robot, but it was extremely slow. [1] https://grabitinc.com/ https://grabitinc.com/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI7u9V5aYt4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI7u9V5aYt4 [3] http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/11/technology/robots-garment-manufacturing-sewbo/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/11/technology/robots-garment-ma... [4] http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.689.3116&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.689...

userbinator 9y ago

It somehow reminds me of http://amasci.com/weird/unusual/e-wall.html http://amasci.com/weird/unusual/e-wall.html

TFortunato 9y ago

Just as a little fun fact -- in the semiconductor industry, this has been a major method of wafer handling for quite a while, where the wafer handling bit is known as an "electrostatic chuck." If you google that term, you can find a LOT of info on how this type of system works since it's been around, used in production and studied for quite a while!