SHADOW ROBOT COMPANY LTD.
251 Liverpool Road
London
N1 1LX
UK
+44 (0)207 700 2487
Company History
Shadow has been working in robotics for many years.
This is a history of the company starting from the founding of Shadow in 1987 to the establishment in 1998 of the Shadow Robot Company and the 2005 NASA order through to the present day.
2011 Novemeber 16th
Shadow EDC Hand Release
New Version of the Shadow Motor Hand Released
The new EtherCAT Dual CAN (EDC) hand sees a sizeable increase in performance for the world leading Shadow Dexterous Hand.
The EDC version of the motor hand is identical to a standard CAN bus motor hand, except that the single CAN bus which serves all of the electronics has been replaced by an EtherCAT network and two CAN buses.
A CAN bus has a bandwidth of about 600kB/s, allowing a servo rate of about 100Hz internal to the hand.EtherCAT has a bandwidth of 7.5MB/s, allowing a servo rate of 1000Hz.
The following table shows the performance of the new EDC hand compared to the CAN hand in various areas:
| CAN hand | EDC hand | |
|---|---|---|
| Sensors | ||
| Joint Sensor update rate | 100Hz | 1000Hz |
| Tactile Sensor update rate | 100Hz | 1000Hz |
| Motor Torque Sensor update rate | 30Hz | 500Hz |
| PID Control Loops | ||
| Torque control loop rate | 1000Hz | 5000Hz |
| Position control loop rate | 100Hz | 1000Hz |
| Velocity control loop rate | - | 1000Hz |
| Torque Controlled at | Motor | Motor |
| Position Controlled at | Motor | Host |
| Other Features | ||
| Friction Compensation | No | Yes |
| Firmware bootloading | No | Yes |
| 6-axis IMU | No | Yes |
2011 July 26th
TACO (an FP7 research project) promotional video
TACO, an FP7 research project Shadow is involved in, releases a promotional video.
2009 February 9th
UPMC HANDLE project (FP7 IP)
The UPMC HANDLE project (FP7) purchased our pneumatic Hand and our motorised Hand with our pneumatic Arm which you can see in the photo. Click on the photo to view the photo full size. Handle have a Photo Galleryand a Video Gallery.
HANDLE, which brings together researchers from 9 partner institutions across 6 European countries, received a EUR 6.35 million boost under the 'Information and communication technologies' (ICT) Theme of the Seventh European Framework Programme (FP7). The pan-European research team, hailing from Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom, hope to develop a more autonomous artificial hand that can make natural movements. Click here for the HANDLE webite.
2011 June 30th
European Commission: CORDIS: Robotic hand made more natural
HANDLE, which brings together researchers from 9 partner institutions across 6 European countries, received a EUR 6.35 million boost under the 'Information and communication technologies' (ICT) Theme of the Seventh European Framework Programme (FP7). The pan-European research team, hailing from Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom, hope to develop a more autonomous artificial hand that can make natural movements. Read more...
Understanding the intricacies of how the human hand functions is an essential part of developing an artificial, anthropomorphic articulated hand, and an EU-funded project that aims to do just that is well under way. Read more...
2010 December 7th to 8th
Technology World 2010
Shadow exhibited the Dextrous Hand
Shadow's Rich Walker discussing our technology with UK Gov Business Minister Mark Prisk at Technology World 2010 in the ExCeL Convention Centre London.
2010 September 27th to 29th
ICT 2010 Brussels Expo
Shadow exhibit the Dextrous Hand
ICT2010 at the Brussels Expo is the European Commission's showcase event for research and innovation in Europe. Shadow are pleased to have been invited to exhibit the Dextrous Hand and discuss our work. Come and visit us at booth C11 in the SME Village.
Click here to read the ICT2010 team interview with Shadow Robot Company.
HANDLE will also be exhibiting the Hand and Biomorphic Arm - they are at booth R1-05 in the Smart Systems zone. See HANDLE is 1 article here.
2010 July 12th
Shadow Robot ROS interface Release 1
Shadow Robot ROS interface Release 1, is now available.
The Shadow ROS interface provides an interface to both simulated and real Hardware. It uses ROS to give the user an easy way of interacting with Shadow Robot's Hardware. If you don't have our hardware, you can still use the simulated Dextrous Hand with our simulated Arm to experiment.
To get started, you should check our FAQ. This release is the just the first one, so stay tuned: we'll add lots of new functionalities in the months to come.
Don't hesitate to send us your feedback.
2010 July 8th to 10th
EuroHaptics 2010
Shadow and EST team up to demo Dextrous Hand for Telepresence
At EuroHaptics 2010, don't miss the opportunity to see the Shadow Dextrous Hand linked up with the CyberGlove Systems CyberGlove for use in remote operations, haptics research and autonomous robotics!
Following our successful partnership with EST at the ITEC exhibition in London, Shadow will be demonstrating the "Smart Motor" Dextrous Hand on the EST stand at EuroHaptics. You will be able to see the state-of-the-art Shadow robotic hand, which has all the movements of the human hand, linked up with the well-known CyberGlove suite of tools and systems.
The Dextrous Hand opens up new possibilities for researchers and end-users alike. It can provide a testbed for new tactile sensing designs, a source of data for real-world haptic experiments, or an enabler for true remote working. If you are attending EuroHaptics, please come and see us there - if not, please contact hand@shadowrobot.com to discuss your interest with us.
2010 May 16th
The Shadow Hand at Google Zeitgeist 2010
On 16th May, Shadow was invited to exhibit the Shadow Dextrous Hand at the 5th Zeitgeist Europe. Zeitgeist is a Google partner forum aimed to gather participants from different backgrounds to create stronger business relationships.
Shadow was pleased to attend as a representative of British Innovation, along with other innovators from around the world. The first day of the forum showed innovative products and technologies that are currently transforming the world.
The forum was followed by 3 days of workshops and conferences with guests such as the Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Co-Founder Larry Page, in an event that brought 350 people from different nationalities.
We had a great time since many people who had not seen the Hand before were amazed by the similarity to their hands and its capabilities.
Many thanks to CyberGlove Systems who loaned as a Cyber Grasp System to demo the Hand unit.
2010 April 19th
GAITECH, PRo China signs distribution agreement
GAITECH Scientific Instruments Co., Ltd. based in Shangai, China (www.gaitech.net) and Shadow Robot Company (www.shadowrobot.com) have signed a distribution agreement, appointing Gaitech as authorized distributor of the Shadow Dexterous Hand in China.
Gaitech International Ltd. is a provider of R&D products and technical services in the field of biomedical engineering, biomechanics, orthopaedics/ergonomics and rehabilitation to hospitals, universities, and research institutions in general.
In Shanghai, Gaitech is represented as Gaitech Scientific Instruments Co. Ltd. The company was established in 2004, and since then has focused on the fields of medical engineering, ergonomics and neuroscience. Gaitech provides professional kinematics and kinetics service. For more information on Gaitech, visit: http://www.gaitech.net/
We are looking very much forward to having Gaitech bring our unique technology into this region, adding value to the customer's research facilities, supporting the rehabilitation field and strengthening our position at the growing Chinese market.
2010 February 23rd to 24th
TACO Project nauguration meeting (FP7 IP)
The Shadow Robot Company is part of TACO Project. TACO (Three-dimensional Adaptive Camera with object Detection and Foveation) is a project co-financed by the European Commission under EU Framework Programme 7 (FP7) with the main purpose to make the new 3D system more attractive. We will be part of it, working in the applications towards robot grippers in a project that will lasted until 2013.
An inauguration meeting took place is Oslo, Norway on the 23rd and 24th of February 2010. Shadow Team member, Ugo Cupcic was there along with the team from Austria, Germany, Norway and UK. Expect more news of this exciting project soon.
2010 February 22nd
BBC Website: Islington company creates robotic helping hands
BBC website Video interview with Rich Walker of the Shadow Robot Company, about Ministry of Defence funding.
2010 February 9th
UPMC HANDLE project is 1 (FP7 IP)
HANDLE is one! Yes, we've already done 12 months of work on our big FP7 IP. That included delivering a brand-new Hand and Arm to UPMC who will be using it to test new theories of grasping and manipulation. Click here for the HANDLE webite.
From left to right: Matt, Guillaume, the Hand/Arm, Ugo and Ve'ronique. Next year we will see more and more interesting hands...
2009 November 25th to 28th
International Robot Exhibition 2009
Matt Godden displaying the Shadow Robot C6M hand at International Robot Exhibition 2009 in Japan, from 25th to 28th November 2009. This is Matt doing a demo. Come and see. He is also in this promo video for the event at the beginning.
2009 November 23th to 24th
Technology World 2009
Video of Armando De La Rosa Tames displaying the Shadow Robot C6M hand at Technology World 2009
2009 October 18th
News of the World Article
News of the World feature on Bomb disposal using the Shadow Robot Arm and Hand.
2009 September 9th
ELRIG Technology Award 2009
Shadow Robot Company wins The ELRIG Technology Award 2009 for the most interesting piece of technology on show, as voted for by the delegates for the Shadow teleoperation hand system. Once on ELRIG site, click on News --> ELRIG Awards.
2009 August 17th
Shadow C6M Smart Hand
The Shadow Robot Company has a new motorised hand available for ordering now. This new hand, known as the Shadow C6M Smart Motor Hand, compliments the Shadow Dextrous Air Muscle hands.
Click to download Shadow C6M Smart Motor Hand Technical Specification.
The C6M Smart Motorised Hand is NOT a replacement for the C6 Air muscle hand. Both hands are available to order. Click to download Shadow C6 Dextrous Hand Specification.
2009 March 18th
Advanced Technology Showcase 2009
The Shadow Robot Company will be Exhibiting at the Advanced Technology Showcase 2009 event being held at One Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AA.
2009 February 27th to March 2nd
Kinetica Art Fair 2009
The Shadow Robot Company will be Exhibiting at the Kinetica Art Fair 2009. Alongside the fair there will be special events, screenings, tours, talks, workshops and performances. These events will involve some of the world's most eminent leaders in the fields of kinetic, electronic and new media art.
2008 November 11th 7pm
Man & Machine: The convergence
- Rich Walker to speak
This visionary panel will discuss the potential of the human body through an artists perspective and explore how science fiction has lead the way forward in creating today's robotic and technologically advanced society.
£7/£5 conc
Speakers:
Stelarc - Performance artist, lecturer, Brunel University
Brian R Duffy - Senior Researcher, Media Lab Europe & Smartlab Digital Media Institute
Ghislaine Boddington - Director Body>Data>Space
Rich Walker - Shadow Robot Company
Dianne Harris - Artist, art director and curator Kinetica Museum
Kinetica Museum - Seminars and Talks
Kinetica at Bishopsgate Institute
2008 October 29th
London Technology Fund (LTF) Competition 2008
Shadow were one of the finalists at the LTF 2008 competition, but were beaten to the trophies by some really amazing business ideas. You can see the Shadow Board demonstrating their remarkable sartorial uniformity in this picture.
Chairman Greenhill attempts to explain just what all those black bits in the middle of the Hand are actually for. A splendid night was had by all - many thanks to all at LTF for putting it together!
2008 January 25th to 27th
TechFest 2008 @ Mumbai
The Shadow Dextrous Hand was on show at TechFest 2008, Asia's largest Technology Festival! If you're in the Mumbai area, why not come and see us there between 25 and 27 January.
2007 November 6th
Shadow Hand featured in ABN AMRO advert
Production company Bonkers b.v. were looking for a state-of-the-art robot hand for an advert they were doing for ABN AMRO.
They contacted the Shadow team, and flew a Hand and engineers over to Amsterdam for the filming. Sadly the video is no longer available to view.
2007 June 28th
Robotic technology in rehabilitation project
The Shadow Robot Company, London, UK, has started a project to develop advanced robotic technologies for rehabilitation for The Mays and Schnapp Pain Clinic and Rehabilitation Center, Memphis, USA.
2007 September 13th to 16th
WIRED NextFest2007 @ LA convention center
The Shadow Robot Company will be pleased to be a proud representative of British innovation at WIRED NextFest.2007 and along with other innovators from around the world, fulfil the NextFest mission of presenting innovative products and technologies that are transforming our world.
2007 September 11th
Shadow is featured on Channel4 & Ford Design Advert
Quote from the Channel4 & Ford Design Advert...
Design doesn’t stand still and it’s not. You’ll be carried away by these moving design developments which you can discover and watch on this site, brought to you by Channel 4 and the new Ford Mondeo.
They contacted the Shadow team, and flew a Hand and engineers over to Amsterdam for the filming. Sadly the video is no longer available to view.
From marvelling at moving furniture to testing your body’s limits on the trapeze or watching dancers surpass theirs; absorbing the reality-defying designs of architect Zaha Hadid or the innovative vintage-modern mix of Bolongaro Trevor clothing; seeing science really make magic with the Shadow Hand; or simply expressing yourself with objects for the home which don’t just simply function but amaze, you need only click here to start your journey through the wonders of kinetic, where movement and emotion are intertwined.
2007 September 9th
BBC 2 Northern Ireland series (begins 7.00pm)
Never has science and technology been so exciting! Each week, two school teams are challenged to come up with an innovation or robotic invention against the sands of time in the Bright Sparks Castle Laboratory.
2007 August 23rd
Video of Human Touch Massaging
Nissm Elias, of Human Massager, is developing a machine that can massage you just like a human can. Naturally, he approached the Shadow Robot Company to see what our technology could offer his project. He came over to the Shadow offices, and met the team to discuss business. While he was here, we did some filming with the Dextrous Hand - you can see the results on the YouTube videos or click play below.
2007 June 28th
Robotic technology in rehabilitation project
The Shadow Robot Company, London, UK, has started a project to develop advanced robotic technologies for rehabilitation for The Mays and Schnapp Pain Clinic and Rehabilitation Center, Memphis, USA.
2007 May 8th
Tactile Sensors as compact as a human fingertip
Based on a request by The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, The Shadow Robot Company, London, UK, produced unique Tactile Sensors, whose sensitivity gets close to that of a human fingertip.
2007 April 13th
Shadow in Australia
In cooperation with Romheld Australia, The Shadow Robot Company is now introducing their C5 Hand and related technologies in Australia.
2007 January 18th
Dancing with robotic Spider crabs
The Shadow Robot Company will be building and simulating a gigantic spidercrab for the new performance project of The Faculty of Performance, Visual arts and Communications at Leeds University.
2006 November 1st
World's best Robotic Hand gets better
On November the 1st 2006, The Shadow Robot Company introduced their newest Dexterous Hand: the C5 Hand, it will be sold to the university of Bielefeld.
2006 September 29th to October 1st
NextFest
The Shadow Robot Company Hand is on display at the NextFest show in Javits Center, New York City. Visit our stand on Robot Row and see the Hand in action. See Rocketboom Video log featuring Armando demonstrating the Hand
2006 August 17th
BBC2 Dragon's Den
The Prize Winning Shadow Robot Company in Islington is featured on the BBC TV program Dragon's Den this coming Thursday evening at 8pm (17 August 06) on BBC2. Stephen Morfey, Marc de Gentile-Williams, and Rich Walker made the company's pitch for more funding.
During the summer the company was overwhelmed by enquiries for its Dextrous Robotic Hand, and are actively seeking further investment.
The Dextrous Hand is sold to universities, research institutes, and hospitals who have an interest in advanced robotics. The company has sold hands to NASA, Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, and Bielefeld University in Germany.
Dramatically increased orders from leading institutions means the company needs to increase its capacity. "It is not enough for the company of produce more prototypes", said Richard Greenhill, the Managing Director. He believes they need more capital investment to develop the manufacturing end of the business.
The Shadow Robot Company is actively looking for partners with an enthusiasm for cutting edge design and engineering projects.
However, the BBC's Dragons were reluctant to invest in a company focused on research and development, and they felt that The Shadow Robot Company was ideal for government sponsorship. "I'm not confident you have a mass product," charged Mr. Bannatyne.
The Company has short term and long term development plans in the area of advanced robotics and is seeking investors with imagination, flare, and experience of the advanced robotics market.
"Our immediate prospects are huge," says Alan Madsen. "And the current interest shown in The Dextrous Hands by Universities, Research Institutes, and Corporations is overwhelming."
2006 May 16th to 19th
Automatica (Munich)
The Shadow Dextrous hand welcomes Karin Stoiber and her Husband Dr. Edmund Stoiber (Bavarian Prime Minister) - Norbert Bargmann, General Manager of Messe München on the right.
Photos Courtesy of photocredit: AlexSchelbert.de
2006
North Carolina A & T University order Shadow Leg
Shadow Leg built by David Buckley delivered to North Carolina A & T University.
2005
Carnegie Mellon University order
Carnegie Mellon University selects the Shadow Dextrous Hand for their research work.
2005 September 28th
NASA Place Order
NASA's Robonaut project, based
at the Johnson Space Center, places an order for a Shadow Dextrous Hand with tactile sensing. Below is a web
snapshot of the NASA purchase order.
NASA Purchase Order 28th September 2005: Click on image to enlarge.
The Hand is to be used to inspire their own Robonaut development and experiment with grasping and manipulation algorithms. Below are two videos of the NASA acceptance tests.
2005 12th-15th September
CLAWAR 2005
The Shadow Robot Company exhibits Hand C at CLAWAR (12th-15th September 2005). Click here for CLAWAR 2005 OR here for CLAWAR
2005 11th June
MIT Workshop on Humanoid Manipulation
Shadow exhibits Hand C at the Science and Systems Workshop on Humanoid Manipulation held at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
2004 tp 2005
First order for Shadow Dexterous Hand
Prof Helge Ritter, winner of the Liebnitz prize (€2million) places first order for the Shadow Dexterous Hand. He is professor at the Department of Information Science, University of Bielefeld, a world-leading expert in the principles of neural computation, in particular self-organizing and learning systems, and their application to machine vision, robot control and interactive man-machine interfaces.
2004
Fingertip tactile sensor developed
Shadow develops it's world-leading fingertip tactile sensor (34 proportional sensors in each fingertip).
2003
Shadow develops the world's best robotic fully-dexterous hand
Shadow develops the world's best robotic fully-dexterous hand, ahead of NASA, DLR (the German space agency) and all Japanese companies and universities. It has 24 separately powered and controlled movements (compared to 24 for the human, and 16 for the maximum number achieved elsewhere).
2002
Robodex (Japan)
The Shadow Robot Company exhibits at Robodex 2002 in Yokohama. Shadow are the only foreign exhibitors at the show and surrounded by some of the best in Japanese robot design. Click here to see photos of Shadow at Robodex and other exhibitors
At a total cost of €25,000, Shadow were invited by the organisers of Robodex (Japan) to bring our Dexterous Hand and the original Shadow Biped.
We were voted favourite Robot by an exit poll.
Honda (Asimo) and SONY (sdrio) were not pleased!
2002 November 11th
Shadow Hand B at NESTA presentations for innovation.
The Shadow Robot Arm with Lord Puttnam - NESTA Chairman
NESTA were created to give UK innovators a fighting chance, investing at the highest point of risk and offering very special individuals the time, space, money and support to push at their own frontiers.
2001
NESTA Award
Awarded NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts) Grant of £75,000
2000
Millennium Product Status
Awarded Millennium Product Status for the Shadow Air Muscle.
1999
Shadow invited to join CLAWAR
Shadow were invited to join CLAWAR - the Climbing & Walking Robots Thematic Network
1999
BBC1 Tomorrow's World Ironing Robot:
Below is the basic tenor of the TV programme:
How do you get a robot to do the ironing? We asked one of the UK's top robotic firms to build us one.
In the last Tomorrow's World of 1999, we asked you what domestic task you would most like to hand over to a robot in the new millennium. Fifty percent of you voted for ironing so we asked one of the UK's top robotic firms to build one for us.
They built a simple robot that picks up the iron very like us using muscles: rubber tubes surrounded by a knitted mesh which when inflated with air expand width ways and contract lengthways pulling the limb towards the muscle. The robot uses pairs of opposing muscles to move its arm from side to side, back and forth and up and down, just like a human.
The team are now working on the muscles in miniature to make a hand. However, it will still be ten to fifteen years before a robot has the processing power to really take on the task, according to inventor Richard Greenhill. "I mean beating Kasparov at chess is easy peasy - this is more difficult," he says.
1998
DTI SMART Award
Awarded DTI SMART Award to develop our Dexterous Hand (£45,000)
1998
Shadow Biped listed as No.4 World's Greatest Android Projects
The Shadow Biped is listed as No 4 in The World's Greatest Android Projects on the Internet (below three projects in Japan, and above COG, the MIT android!)
1998
Portech commission
Portech, (manufacturers of the Robug eight legged climbing and walking robot for the Nuclear industry) commissioned Shadow to design a modular interchangeable leg using Shadow Air Muscles instead of the existing pneumatic cylinders. Project completed ahead of time, exceeding the spec. by factors of 2 for power and 1.3 for range of movement.
1998
Professor Hirochika Inoue visits Shadow
Professor Hirochika Inoue of the Department of Mechano-Informatics, University of Tokyo, Japan, leader of MITI Japan's New Humanoid Project and also of the Japanese Ministry of Education's Large Project for Future Robotics, came to London to “see for himself” what Shadow were doing. Following his visit, his University placed a substantial order for Air Muscles.
1997
Shadow and Professor Martin Fergusson-Pell awarded grant
In collaboration with Professor Martin Fergusson-Pell of CDRI/ASPIRE, Shadow was jointly awarded a £22,000 grant towards the development of an aid for the disabled -- dubbed the Shadow Ranger, a device to maintain Range of Motion in the knee joint of MS sufferers.
1997
NASA Air muscle order
A quantity of Shadow Air Muscles were supplied to NASA for a robot arm designed by Salford University.
1996
GOLD at Robotix, the Robot Olympics - Glasgow
Gold Medal for Best Robot at Robotix, the Robot Olympics at Glasgow, against competition from the major UK universities and around the world.
1995
Website Launch (www.shadow.org.uk)
Launch of the Shadow website (www.shadow.org.uk). you can see the 1997 version of the website on the Internet Archive wayback machine. Click here for all archived dates.
1994
T.E.P. Commission
The Technology Enhancement Programme commissioned Shadow to create educational material introducing the Shadow Air Muscle to schools.
1990
1st Robot Olympics - Glasgow
Two Silver Medals at the 1st Robot Olympics at Glasgow.
1988 to 1991
DTI's Advanced Robotics Intiative
Participation in DTI's Advanced Robotics Intiative (Domestic Robot group)
