An educational project run in conjunction with Turin’s IAAD – The Italian University for Design confirms the attention Comau pays to the functionality and design of new technologies through the “Style & Design” team of Comau’s Robotics and Automation Products business unit.
Turin – March 19th, 2020 – To design a “skin” for tomorrow’s robots: this is the mission of the educational project launched by Comau in late 2019, involving 20 young designers from Product design department IAAD.
The project began in November with a workshop that analyzed the technology involved along with Comau’s product design and development strategies. The students from IAAD worked on the project until the end of February. Divided into 6 groups, they explored and developed new ways to create a sensory skin for Comau robots to enable them to collaborate with human operators. The project provided a stimulating exchange of creativity and know-how, and gave participants a chance to demonstrate their ability to rethink and redesign Comau’s advanced technologies. It was also a great opportunity for the students to discover for themselves what steps and competencies are needed to develop the design of a new product in the industrial automation field.
The projects that the various groups worked on, ranging from creative concepts to possible applications in the industry, were presented on February 5, 2020 at the IAAD in the presence of the Institute’s Director, Laura Milani, and Comau’s Head of Marketing, Maurizio Cremonini, accompanied by the project’s managers, Davide Negri Coordinator of the IAAD’s Product design department, and Francesco Ciniello from the Style & Design team of Comau Robotics and Automation Products. The most interesting ideas will inspire the experimental
development of new Comau technologies and the advancement of new collaborative solutions for Comau’s robot family.
Attention to the style and versatility of its technologies, backed up by continuous R&D work, is one of the fundamental characteristics of Comau and, particularly, the “Style & Design” team, which was established in 2012 within the Robotics & Automation Products business unit. “A product’s efficiency and functionality are partly determined by the care taken over its shape and appearance. This is why creative spirit and engineering know-how always need to go hand in hand”, explains Francesco Ciniello, Head of Style & Design. “Developing an industrial machine or robot means applying design to technology, and combining a high technical performance with effectiveness and pleasing lines”.
At Comau, innovation always stems from a creative approach and a willingness to experiment with new technological concepts following or driving market trends. Since 2013, this is how many new Comau products began, including the TP 5; Racer 7 and Racer 5 robots; the Rebel SCARA; the LHYTE hybrid laser machine; the AURA cobot; the Amico humanoid robot concept; the e.DO small, modular, open source robotic arm for educational purposes; and the MATE exoskeleton.
“The design of the small Racer3 robot is an example of how Comau has sought to combine attractive form with excellent technical specifications. It shows how shape is always complementary to performance and can even improve a machine’s efficiency”, Francesco Ciniello continues. “Guided by the concept of HUMANufacturing, Comau designs draw on human nature to create sleek, attractive lines and to bring advanced technology closer than ever to human sensitivity. The project with the IAAD is providing Comau with new stimuli by opening up to the creativity of young designers, to whom we in turn are happy to transfer some of the automation culture and skills that set us apart in the field of industrial design and robotics”.