We’ve featured HERB on our blog before. He was part of an Oreo cookie campaign where researchers taught him how to separate the cookie from the cream. As with all robots, HERB needed to be programmed to work and being able to program him to twist and separate a cookie was a big deal for the robotic community.
But it turns out HERB is capable of learning to do things on his own based on past experiences. Researchers accidentally left some objects in the research room with HERB and he learned what they were and how to manipulate them. In terms of robotic technology, this discovery is pretty revolutionary.
As robotics becomes more and more advanced, we’ll probably surprise ourselves, and we may be able to solve problems we never thought possible. Robots like HERB can do a lot to change the way we manufacture goods and provide services but as it stands now, we’ll still have to program our existing technology to be able to serve our needs.
Servo motors from companies like Rexroth and Indramat do have certain things in common with HERB, however. For instance, when a servo motor runs into an issue, it will stop itself, unlike a stepper motor that will continue to operate and damage itself and what it’s working on. Feedback is one of the main advantages to choosing Indramat and Rexroth servo motors over induction motors. HERB, on the same idea, uses feedback from his “senses” to tell him about his surroundings. You can watch a video about what HERB sees. Both servo motors and HERB send signals back to their computers about what’s happening around them and then respond to the situation.
However, when HERB or your Indramat or Rexroth servo motor or drive isn’t responding correctly to what’s going on around them, they need some help. If your Rexroth servo motor isn’t sending signals back to the servo drive, it will cause problems. If you’re having issues with your servos responding and sending signals to your servo drive, give us a call and we can help troubleshoot the problem.