35 www.drivesncontrols.com January 2025 Worm-and-wheel gears give bionic hand a powerful grip APolish company that specialises in prosthetic and rehabilitation devices, has developed a bionic hand with a 35kg lifting capacity and the ability to deliver more than 150N of gripping force. An impact resistance mechanism in Aether Biomedical’s Zeus hand allows its fingers to flex during an impact, protecting them from breakage and increasing their durability. A soft grip function results in a light touch, preventing the hand from breaking fragile objects. Aether was founded in 2018 after the company had identified a gap in the market for an affordable, commercial bionic hand. It spent four years developing a human-centred design that would be strong, robust and agile. “The founders opened a European office and assembled a team of driven professionals to create a bionic hand,” recalls Aether Biomedical’s COO, Marta Szymanowska. “Two years later, they launched the Zeus – a multi-articulating bionic hand.” During the development process, Aether Biomedical’s engineers were looking for the ideal gears for the hand’s finger joints and came across worm-andwheel gears from the Japanese manufacturer, KHK. “They stood out not just because they fit our technical requirements perfectly, but also because of their exceptional performance specifications,” says Aether’s production manager, Rafał Pilaczyński. “Their maximum allowable torque was significantly higher than similar-sized gears from other suppliers – sometimes by several times over. This made them an ideal choice for our application, where reliability and strength are critical.” The worm-and-wheel pairs were supplied by KHK’s UK and Europe distributor, RA Rodriguez (UK). Following the success of the Zeus bionic hand in European markets, Aether Biomedical has now launched it in the US. n A Polish company has developed a powerful bionic hand that relies on precision worm-and-wheel gears in its joints to deliver the necessary gripping force. Aether Biomedical’s bionic hand uses worm-and-wheel gears in its finger joints to deliver a high gripping force AN MATCH SUPPLIER C X SERVO GEARBO THER WHICH NO O PACKAGE e have Patented Designs nandw It starts with desig PATENTED DESIGNS A UNIQUE P A sales@apexdy k.com il or ema 0121 227 5340 te on all NOW for a d tandar ATEXasS ery Guaranteed Deliv ime 2-3 Week Lead T Year Warranty Patented Designs 5Y Ca quot exdynauk TIVE 2014/34/EU . DIREC d gearbox ranges, to the lat ATEX on our standar tion T6 classifica y II 2 GD c ed Categor Apex has achiev TANDARD AT ery date. acknowledged as the deliv t we ODUCT if we are late on wha . FREE PR Dynamics forApex ery - another industr Guaranteed deliv ’S FREE! Y OR IT -TIME DELIVER . ack and pinion solutions gearboxes and r el al bev y and spir d range of planetar On our standar TIME WEEK LEAD UNMATCHED 2-3 oducts. and pinion pr ack vo gearboxes and r e range of ser omplet On our c 5 YEAR WARRANTY UNIQUE formance. for high per f f W A ONy first f ATEXASST estA m A http://www W: sales@ap E: 0121 227 534 T: Uttoxeter, Staff w.apexdynauk.com .com pexdynauk 07305 014551 | M: 0 Y ffordshire, ST14 7B e Road s ff GEARS AND GEARBOXES n
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