Your older brother’s arm wrestling grip is killing you?  The Human Grasp Assist device might be able to give you a helping hand (or a helping glove actually). The device, which is also known as Robo-Glove or K-Glove, is the result of the collaboration between GM and NASA and has been developed to help astronauts and autoworkers stay away from stress injuries.

The technology powering the Robo-Glove is based on the grasping technology which was developed for the hands of Robonaut 2, the humanoid robot presently helping out at the International Space Station. The robot features actuators in its fingers, and pressure sensors for sensing touch.

By using the same technology, the engineers from GM and NASA have created the power-assisted glove which is equipped with actuators in the upper sections of each finger, and pressure sensors. When a user who has the gloves on tries to grasp an object, the sensors detect it and the actuators work to pull the fingers into a gripping position. The fingers will be held in the position until further notice.

Since the glove is doing the work to maintain the grip, there won’t be any strain for a user. According to estimations, a person using the Robo-Glove will only have to assert five to ten pounds of gripping force for a task which requires a human worker without the glove to assert 15 to 20 pounds.

They developed a prototype glove back in March 2011 and another version three months later. Both versions weigh in at around two pounds and come with a display. They are powered by lithium-ion battery pack. A third model is being developed and that should come with improved features.

And from the video you will understand that the device will be safe for humans, so there won’t be any problem when you scratch yourself.

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A driver loses control and the car skids off the road and into a pole. The passenger had been bending forward to grab something they dropped on the car floor. The air bags deploy and the driver is fine, but the passenger is injured because they were so far forward.

There may now be a way to prevent such an injury. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute of Silicate Research have developed a sensor that can be stretched to twice its size. The sensors could be integrated into a car seat to determine the position of the occupant such as when the person is leaning over or sitting back in the seat. This would allow the force of the airbag to be lessened if the occupant is leaning forward in the event of an accident.

The researchers say the flexibility of the new dielectric elastomeric sensors makes them suitable for a wide variety of applications. According to the researchers, the sensors are supple enough to go unnoticed when sewn into clothing, which could assist in analyzing movements to help athletes optimize their training.

The sensors work in a similar way to conventional strain gauges by measuring the change in electrical capacitance as the sensor is stretched. However, these sensors are made of a highly stretchable elastomeric polymer film that is coated on both sides with flexible electrodes. By controlling the degree of chemical bonding within the elastomer film, the researchers are able to tailor the sensors for different applications.

Useful industrial applications include embedding sensors in the floor of a factory, which would warn someone who is coming too close to hazardous machinery. The researchers will be demonstrating the new sensor at the Sensor+Test trade fair being held in Nuremburg, Germany from June 7 to 9, 2011.

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