Bayflex Solutions (bayflexsolutions.com) is a Silicon Valley company focused on flexible electronics testing, with interchangeable mechatronics and hostile environment integration.  Their goal is to help provide data analytics used in R&D, Manufacturing and Field operations.  They manufacture flexible display and electronics supply chains, as well as wearable devices.  They are well connected with other consortia such as OE-A, SEMI/FLEX, SID, Nextflex, AFFOA*, Fraunhofer FEP and the Holst Centre, which are helpful for us as we build our own HAND networks.

Contactile (Contactile home page) is a Sydney, Australia-based startup company founded in 2019.  Their goal is to develop tactile sensors for robotic hands and enable dexterous robotic gripping.  Their sensing technology was invented at UNSW Sydney by the founders with funding support from the Australian Research Council and the US Office of Naval Research.  They are in the process of developing robotic grippers that have some intelligence and can help replicate human dexterity.  

Liquid Wire  (Liquid Wire) specializes in stretchable electronics, stretchable interconnects, strain sensors, and durable, conformable materials and electronics.  Their applications are broad, from sports and medical data collection to communications, power distribution, and signal monitoring in high motion environments.  Liquid Wire leads this technology space with longevity of 30+million stretches before failure.  Their proprietary liquid-metal material technology allows for this robust connectivity and longevity, and their flexible sensor technology can be used for many applicationsincluding embedded sensors within soft robot fingers.  

Haption  (haption.com) is a French company involved in developing hardware and software based on force feedback in the industrial, medical, and research spaces.  As their name implies, their force feedback devices are primarily used in haptics applications.  Though this member will be paying cash for their membership, their product line includes devices with 6 DoF feedback along translations and rotations in both stand-alone and tabletop configurations.  The company is very involved in the virtual reality market, and is a founding member of the European Association for Extended Reality, or EuroXR as well as a member of euRobotics.  Their US headquarters are in Hope, Rhode Island.

MaxInsights (MaxInsights), a start up in the AI space, provides experimental robot data collection as a service for companies building foundation models. They also perform evaluation as a service, putting robots in different real-world “scenes” and collecting data to test machine learning policies, per the customer’s needs.  They have five ready-to-go standard scenes, including Laundry Center, Restaurant, Kitchen, Hotel, and Home. Their setup also includes a range of devices, such as mobile and stationary equipment.  They’re also involved in integrated teleoperation of robots.

Apple (Apple), is the well-known Silicon Valley technology company involved in developing consumer electronics, software, and services.  Originally founded as Apple Computer Company by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Apple has grown into a multinational technology company, still residing in Cuppertino, CA.  

Apple has an interest in advancing electronics manufacturing, in particular advancing automation of dexterous manufacturing motions through hardware and software developments.  

Dexmate (Dexmate) develops personal, general purpose mobile robots for a variety of tasks.  Its primary offering is the Vega robot, a humanoid-type robot built on a mobile platform.  This robot includes high-payload arms, dexterous hands, a really interesting foldable torso and arm design which enables it to stretch to over 7’ tall while still being compact enough to fit in the back of a small SUV.  The base includes omni-directional wheels along with a high-capacity battery enabling long operation times.  The goal of this design is to maximize flexibility, reliability, and efficiency for a variety of applications.

Based in Chicago, IL, Fluid Reality (Fluid Reality) develops compact, high resolution haptic hardware for VR and robotic hand teleoperation.  Their fingerpad arrays create detailed displays that help the user with object manipulation in virtual environments.  They can also be used to provide sensation in a glove the operator wears, allowing real time ‘feel’ of what a robot hand is grasping.  Fluid Reality was an early supporter of HAND and will be engaged in Thrust 3 with haptic hardware.

Chang Robotics  (Chang Robotics) provides engineering services around the design of custom robotics systems especially focused on providing workforce solutions.  Their goal is to address labor shortages, enhance efficiencies, and create safer workspaces by designing and deploying autonomous robotics.  Beyond just healthcare applications, their design firm is also focused on process engineering solutions for controls and warehouses, as well as software development for supply chain analysis and facility engineering, as well as simulations and BIM modeling.  

Labyrinth AI  (Labyrinth AI) creates, designs and executes effective machine learning solutions to solve clients’ problems, particularly in eCommerce and manufacturing. The process starts with ML architects, as they explore and assess the data; an approach is then validated and finalized by running various experiments. Finally, an engineering team builds and scales the solution to work on production loads.   

BrightChamps (BrightChamps Robotics) is a STEM curriculum development company with an interest in robotics as educational tools for K12 and beyond.  They believe that not only is robotics education important in developing a future workforce, but that robotics can also be a tool to teach general STEM concepts to all.  They have formed a strategic collaboration with Harvard University in developing their curricula in math and science, and are looking for partners like HAND to help inform on the cutting edge of robotics and dexterity in particular.   Their focuses include robotics foundations, fundamentals of AI and ML, AI and ML for robots, Physical Computing, Interactive Mechatronics, IoT, Sensory Systems, and Home Automation, all designed by academics and psychologists to help reinforce learning through game design, coding basics, and scientific tools in engaging ways.

Artimus Robotics (www.artimusrobotics.com) develops actuators for robotics applications, and they are especially focused on soft, electrical and bio-inspired actuators designed for bio-inspired robotics, wearables, fluid control and electrostatic technologies.  Producing both contracting and expanding actuators, they use thin plastic films and electrostatic liquids to achieve high mechanical compliance.  Their actuators can be activated by digital as well as analog control signals and offer high power-to-weight motion.  Their focus on soft actuator technology aligns with HAND’s work as “soft” is one of our key design goals. 

Robotics and AI Institute (RAI Institute) is directed by Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert, whose goal is to use RAI to help develop robots that are smarter, more agile, more dexterous, and easier to use than those of today.  He is especially interested in increasing productivity, reducing worker risk, and caring for the disabled and elderly using robotic assistants.  To that end RAI has four key thrusts:  Cognitive Intelligence, developing robots smart enough to not need reprogramming for each new task; Athletic Intelligence, the idea that movement, dexterity, and navigation are keys to performance; Organic Design, crafting new hardware designs that enable the desired behaviors, and Ethics, especially the impact of robots on society, which aligns well with HAND’s Dexterity in the Public Interest work.  HAND is excited to be using some of their equipment in our research projects.

ProWorkforce Performance  (www.movement.team) is a risk assessment firm providing customized strategies for work place settings.  Their goal is to reduce workplace injuries by mitigating those risks, restoring function after injury, and building physical resiliency.  Human kinematics is of special interest to them, as is understanding current and future workplace aids such as robotic assistants in the growing field of ergoscience.  They are also interested in gaining insights into dexterity and understanding grip analysis and use cases for wearable sensors, and how companies test human augmentation for high dexterity tasks, as well as assessing how long companies can continue as they have been versus moving to robotic and AI assisted manufacturing.  They are based in Wayland, MA, not far from HAND institutional partner MIT and many of our other industry members.