THIS DELTA ROBOT IS TINY AND ULTRAFAST

Fifteen millimeters: Developed by Harvard engineers, this delta robot is the smallest ever designed. Its precision and speed make it an ideal tool for microsurgery and microassembly.

"Delta" robots are the best thing today for speed and precision. They are widely used in the industry, especially for machining, welding, food packaging or 3D printing. Such a robot consists of three light and articulated arms that guide a platform remaining parallel to the work surface and move it in three directions at high speed. Some models can produce accelerations of several tens of G. And the laws of physics are that the more we miniaturize this type of robot, the faster they are.
At Harvard University (USA), a team from the Wyss Institute broke a miniaturization record with a delta robot measuring just 15 x 15 x 20 mm. MilliDelta, as its name is, is made from an origami-inspired technique in a carbon fiber laminate material, Kapton for flexible areas and adhesive that reacts to heat and pressure . It is driven by piezoelectric actuators and can reach a speed of 0.45 m / s with an accuracy of 5 microns. What's more, MilliDelta can evolve in a very small space of about 7 mm3.

---MilliDelta can compensate for natural hand tremors---

This innovation opens new avenues of development for industrial and medical robots. Indeed, such a small delta robot could be used to manipulate electronic components, living cells or even assist humans to perform microsurgery in comanipulation. Because the robot is fast enough to compensate for the natural tremors of the hand.
For this, Harvard researchers mapped the movements of the tip of a toothpick held by a person that they then transferred to the MilliDelta, which was able to compensate for its movement at high speed. Impressive and promising ...