Viranjith Tilakaratne >Victor Tilane

I taking care of Sales & Business Management for Entact...

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 11:53:02 -0400

I taking care of Sales & Business Management for Entact Robotics. This is our flagship high performance device!

www.entactrobotics.com/w5d.html

Entact W5D High-Performance Haptic Device

Most people that buy this W5D Haptic device are looking for a high performance haptic rendering and force feedback device for their R&D and commercial projects. We have supplied these devices for three areas: assisted interaction (rehabilitation robotics), tele-operation (surgical robotics) and synthetic reality (medical simulators).

-Three Forces and Two Torques

-Precise (Small Scale) Forces

-Low Inertia and Backdrive Friction

The W5D has a full six degrees of freedom and is capable of three forces and two torques. The workspace is similar to the motion of a hand pivoting at the wrist. High stiffness and low backdrive friction are achieved by directly coupling the output links to the actuators. The lightweight handle is balanced completely over the entire workspace without compromising a low inertia feel. Users can take advantage of the W5D’s easy to configure UDP Ethernet connection and open-source firmware and API utilized by Entact.

Workspace and Force

The W5D has been designed specifically for low force small workspace applications. Although still capable of reasonable translation the device is better suited for working in smaller areas. The motion of the device maps well to the movement of a wrist and forearm pivoting at the elbow. Forces range from quite small to large, but only small forces can be applied continuously. The W5D is well suited to applications with delicate force feedback and the occasional force spike.

Five forces are available; the translational forces and roll and pitch torques. A future option will be available to provide the sixth (yaw) torque.

Tools and Handgrips

The handle interface can easily be adapted to application specific handgrips or tools. Wires for powered handles can be encapsulated in a hollow channel along the upper arms. Additional analog and digital signals are available for use in adapting custom handles.

Precise Forces

Force fidelity is the primary consideration in the W5D’s design. Our choice to directly couple the mechanism arms to the actuators enables accurate transmission of force to your hand.

Low Friction and Mass

Each link in the W5D’s mechanism uses a hollow construction. This greatly reduces the perceived mass handling while at the same time maintaining a high level of stiffness. The use of preloaded bearings in each joint also provides low friction and zero backlash.

Gravity Balancing

Gravity balancing is achieved at the W5D’s handle. The advantage of this feature is twofold; first the user is not required to hold up the weight of the handle/mechanism and second all available torque can be used exclusively for force feedback. Balancing is achieved via the use of brass counterweights behind the mechanisms arms. A nice benefit of having lightweight arms is the reduction in required counterweight mass keeping the perceived handle mass quite low.

Software Interfacing

Inside the W5D is an embedded system running a real-time patched version of Linux. The embedded system is based around the popular Gumstix Overo series of computer modules. All firmware source code is available for use and modification to suit your specific application. Our embedded system makes use of Ethernet and UDP for communication with the host. Although unimplemented in software, the embedded system is also capable of serial and USB communication.

Applications

The W5D is well suited for well suited for the W5D is needle insertion simulation. The forces (and range of motion) followed in a needle insertion procedure map well to the five available forces (and range of motion) delivered by the W5D. Entact has supplied the W5D for may other synthetic reality (medical simulator) applications as well as assisted interaction robotics (rehabilitation) and also tele-operation (surgical robotics).

Entact - Haptics at your fingertips!

Always great to see a classic design redone. Watches are an...

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:29:00 -0400

Always great to see a classic design redone. Watches are an incredible showcase of Engineering Design. Check out this inspiring watch design.

Read more @ http://ablogtoread.com/devon/devon-tread-1-watch-hands-on/. Hands-on with a late stage Tread 1 motorized wrist watch prototype from Devon. Look at those belts move! Final version will have refinement and cosmetic changes.-Youtube

Market-based Education...think about it.

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:41:00 -0400

Market-based Education...think about it.:

epiphany.

The Financially Self-Sufficient School Model – Paraguay: Economically Empowering Education for Low-Income Youth

A “good” education is considered one of the best routes out of poverty, but for poor youth in developing countries, education is neither good, nor generally available. There are not enough schools, and existing schools tend to be under-funded, poorly equipped and staffed with poorly trained teachers. There is a serious mismatch between the education students receive and the skills they actually need to earn a decent living. We are changing this paradigm! We have developed a new model of technical/vocational education that provides low-income, chronically under-employed youth with an education that is 100% market-based, at schools that are 100% financially self-sufficient and enable 100% of their graduates to find jobs, create their own employment or continue their educations.

For Immediate Release September 19, 2011 sri lankans without...

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:53:00 -0400

For Immediate Release

September 19, 2011

sri lankans without borders hosts expert panel discussion

TORONTO — On Thursday, September 15th, sri lankans without borders (SLWB), an organization committed to promoting productive inter-communal dialogue in

Canadian Sri-Lankan-Diaspora communities, hosted a panel discussion entitled “Spotlight on Sri Lanka: Postwar Opportunities and Challenges” at Ryerson University’s Engineering Atrium.

The discussion featured 4 respected panelists moderated by CBC anchor Reshmi Nair.

o Amarnath Amarasingam, PhD Candidate, completing dissertation on Sri Lankan Tamil

Nationalism in Canada, Wilfrid Laurier University

o Stewart Bell, award-winning journalist from the National Post, who earned the South

Asian Journalists Association Award for coverage of Sri Lanka’s civil conflict

o Stanley W. Samarasinghe, Executive Director of Global Vision and Adjunct professor at

Tulane University’s Payson Center for International Development

o Gordon Weiss, Writer, Speaker, Documentarian, Former UN Spokesperson in Colombo,

Sri Lanka and Author ofThe Cage: The fight for Sri Lanka & the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers.

o Moderator is Reshmi Nair, Broadcasting Journalist at the Canadian Broadcasting

Corporation (CBC) and Anchor of CBC News Now.

The panel discussion concerned present-day post-war challenges and opportunities in

Sri Lanka. With an emphasis on how Sri Lanka can transition into a post-conflict phase, the panel discussed how the diaspora and international communities can contribute towards sustainable peace, equality and reconciliation both in Sri Lanka and Canada.

The event was attended by 150 passionate people of Tamil, Sinhalese, Burgher, Muslim, Indian and Asian descent. For the first time since the end of the 30 year war in Sri Lanka, different communities in Toronto jointed together to hear, learn about and discuss the relevant issues concerning the future of the island nation, its people and its diaspora.

This dialogue-centric event was attended by the Consul-General of Sri Lanka, Karunarathna Paranawithana, who contributed to the dynamics of a healthy debate among the panel and attendees. Overall, the panel discussion represented a microcosm of the Sri Lankan community in Canada and the differing views on the post-war challenges and opportunities. The panel event was successful in that it brought together peoples of contesting views to a platform encouraging civil dialogue leading to sustainable development ideas in Canada and Sri Lanka.

For more information on future events and SLWB visit www.srilankanswithoutborders.ca or

contact Viranjith Tilakaratne at 647-991-7839 or info@srilankanswithoutborders.ca.

Harvest season is coming up, get ready folks. Organic cortland...

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 12:08:00 -0500

Harvest season is coming up, get ready folks. Organic cortland apple, palm sugar, cinnamon, clove, pepper, salt, simmer. Share with family.