The connection between creating "fingers" and automobile manufacturing explained.
In the ever-evolving landscape of manufacturing, Toyota has taken a significant step forward in ensuring worker safety. The automotive giant has developed an artificial finger, a robotic technology designed to prevent injuries, particularly finger-related accidents, during complex assembly tasks.
The project, led by Tatsuro Mori from the Elemental Technology Development Dept., Production Engineering Div., began in 2019 as a collaboration with Nagoya University and Panasonic. The purpose of this development is to keep frontline workers safe, reducing the time and effort involved in evaluating safety for robot implementation.
The artificial finger acts as a protective device that supports human workers by performing precise and potentially hazardous operations or by serving as a safety measure to avoid direct contact with dangerous machinery or components. The dummy fingers, as they are called, allow for visual adjustment of mechanical forces to safe levels, making them increasingly popular at Toyota's plants in Japan.
The manufacturing industry is facing a shrinking workforce due to falling birthrates and an aging population. Many injuries in the sector involve hands and fingers becoming caught in machinery. The artificial finger is a response to these challenges, aiming to reduce workplace accidents and improve ergonomic conditions for workers, ensuring smoother and safer production processes.
Toyota's use of the artificial finger aligns with their broader strategy of incorporating smart technologies, such as augmented reality (AR) tools, to enhance worker safety, training, and operational efficiency remotely in production plants[2]. The adoption of such tools reflects Toyota’s commitment to combining human skill and digital innovation to optimize safety and productivity in manufacturing.
In an interview, Mori revealed the development backstory, including how a particular animal skin helped achieve the squishy elasticity of a real finger. The artificial finger has a metal "bone" at its core, providing the necessary structure while maintaining flexibility. The dummy fingers demonstrate the kinds of dangers that lurk on the factory floor, addressing concerns about the safety risks to workers' hands as they work closer with robots.
So far, there haven't been any major accidents involving people working alongside robots at Toyota's facilities. Checking the safety measures adequately takes a lot of time, while inspecting the damage on a dummy finger instantly shows the force that could cause an injury if a worker's hand was caught. The dummy fingers, therefore, serve as invaluable tools in Toyota's ongoing quest for a safer and more productive work environment.
[2] Source: Toyota's official website and various news articles on the topic.
The collaboration between Toyota, Nagoya University, and Panasonic in developing an artificial finger aims to enhance worker safety in the transportation and automotive industries, specifically by reducing finger-related accidents during complex assembly tasks. Despite the shrinking workforce in the industry due to falling birthrates and an aging population, the artificial finger could help maintain ergonomic conditions, improve safety, and increase productivity via smart technologies like augmented reality (AR). Furthermore, this technology aligns with Toyota's broader commitment to integrating human skill and digital innovation for optimized safety in finance and technology sectors, including manufacturing.
