He built a robotic arm to cut his hair, and...

As the title suggests, someone built a robotic arm to cut his hair, and then... but luckily, the one that got hurt was a test version of a plastic fake head.

Fake Head: Thank you | References [1]

In 2020, an engineer named Shane Wighton was troubled by the fact that his hair was too long, so he decided to make a hair-cutting robot.

Wighton's original idea was to let the robot simulate the haircutting process of a barber, that is, to lift the hair with a comb first and then start cutting. Although Wighton took some safety measures, such as using a suction system instead of a comb to suck up the hair, and measuring the appropriate cutting length to avoid cutting the scalp, it still failed when he tried it with a fake head.

After being repaired, the barber robot finally stopped making its head fall off, but the movements of version 1.0 were still very rough, and Wighton's hair was pulled when he tried it himself.

Is it a hair-cutting robot or a nonsense-talking robot? | References [1]

However, the robot finally achieved its function. In Wighton's design, it would first suck up a handful of hair with a hairdryer, then fix it with a "finger", and then cut the hair with a small pair of scissors next to it.

The robotic arm has learned to cut hair correctly | References [1]

After learning how to “cut,” the robot also needs to learn how to “shape.” Therefore, Wighton designed a platform that allows the robotic arm to not only move up and down but also circle around the head. However, when you actually put your head in, it still looks a bit weird.

? Very strange | References [1]

The next task is to let the robot arm know what hairstyle you want. Wighton uses a depth camera and facial recognition technology to determine the position of your head.

In addition, he also used a computer to model a human head and marked the hairstyle he wanted. On this head, the darker color means that he wants the hair in this area to be longer. At this time, the "smart" robotic arm can follow your instructions and cut the desired hairstyle! This feeling of designing your own hairstyle may be better than your experience in a barber shop?

The misleading thing about this modeling is that the darker areas represent longer hair, not baldness | References [1]

The robot will also talk to you like the real Tony teacher. Wighton: My dog ​​died and I'm so sad. Robot: Wow! Cool!

Finally, Wighton successfully cut his own hair with the robot he built, and his feedback was: This machine is really good! Although I still asked my wife to help me trim my hair...

Wighton also rated his barber... | References [1]

Even though it's a bit dangerous, some people still comment that the robotic arm designed by Wighton has great prospects that cannot be ignored. It can also assist human hairdressers and people with disabilities.

In fact, robotic arms that mimic human activities can do more than just cut hair. They have long been used as workers in car factories, good helpers for farmers, and even entered the International Space Station... becoming our truly useful partners and providing many possibilities for people with disabilities.

There is a special "Olympic Games" - the Cyborg Olympics, in which scientific research institutions around the world will showcase their latest research results on robotic arms and encourage everyone to develop assistive technologies suitable for daily use by people with disabilities.

In March just past, the Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences won the championship in the upper limb prosthesis group at the Cyborg Olympics.

The prosthetic hand developed by the Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences can complete various tasks flexibly and quickly.

Nowadays, mechanical prostheses can not only pick up objects and operate skillfully, but even have the sense of touch. There will be a very broad space for development and imagination in the future.

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zBrbdU_y0s

[2] https://justalto.com/the-robot-barber-shane-wightons-robotic-hairdresser/[3]http://www.njb.cas.cn/kydt2016/jlry_ky/202303/t20230331_6722549.html

Planning and production

Source: Bringing Science Home

Editor: Lin Lin