FingerVision
Unlocking the potential of humans and robots, updating systems in society.
The mission of FingerVision Inc. is to expand the availability and usability of robots and machines in our real society by leveraging vision-based tactile sensing, which is a university-launched technology, to resolve various social issues.
The core technology: Vision-based tactile sensor
We are a university-launched start-up, whose core technology is the concept of “estimating tactile sensation based on an image (captured by a camera).”
The FingerVision sensor consists of elastic and transparent skin and an embedded camera. Installing it onto fingertips of a robot hand, the robot can perceive “multimodal” tactile sensation, such as force and slip distributions. This technology enables robots to manipulate objects as a human hand does.
Although it is expected that more robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are going to be introduced in our society, their lack of tactile sensation would limit the availability and hinder its implementation in our life.
Our core technology enhances the behavior generation capability of robots, and thus robots can perform tasks traditionally consuming human resources which have been required even in a harsh and poor condition, in hazardous environment, etc.
Expanded availability and usability of robots leads to a redefinition of roles of both humans and robots. As one of practical solutions to make this society better, we continue offering innovative and feasible technologies of tactile sensors and robots.
Features of the Sensor
It’s a high-functionality (high resolution and multimodality) and durable yet cheap.
So it’s practical.
Multimodality
From the sequence of images captured by the camera, the sensor can obtain not only force distribution data (direction of x, y and z) but also other several modalities including slip distribution, object distance, location, pose, size, shape, texture, weight, foreign substance, etc. The high-resolution camera captures more precise distribution of force and slip than other kinds of tactile sensors. The key driver to enhance the performance is located in the software, which means the user can flexibly update the performance as needed.
Inexpensiveness
As information source for tactile sensing is based on images captured by the camera, the mechanism of the hardware fabricating the sensor is so simple that production cost is low and economical. This sensor can be attached to an ordinary robot arm, so choosing a less expensive arm will reduce the cost for implementation much more.
Physically robust and easy to repair
External force is absorbed by the skin, physically isolated from its electrical part (i.e., the camera), so it’s highly durable in principle. Even if the skin part is damaged, it’s inexpensive to replace it.
Company
Name:
FingerVision Inc.
CEO:
Yuki Nono
Business focus:
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Development, manufacturing, selling, implementation of tactile sensors, its processing program, etc.
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Development of systems, implementation, maintenance, support for technical operations, leasing business and technical guidance related to robots and its peripheral equipment
Capital fund:
104 million yen
Laboratory:
Koga building 3F, 3-39-17, Hongo, Bunkyo ward, Tokyo
Received double awards (JT & Maruha Nichiro Award) at the Food Tech 2022 @ TECH PLANTER
Yuki Nono participated in the “Food Tech 2022” on Oct 15, 2022, and received double corporate awards from two companies.
This is a competition in which 12 food tech finalist teams, selected from among the 349 teams that applied for Tech Planter 2022, passionately presented their vision and solutions on solving social issues. Major food-related companies participated as partners in the judges.
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News
Event
8, Jun. 2022
Media
Food application was published in Nikkan Kogyo newspaper
23, Mar. 2022
Press
Funded through a third-party allocation of shares
21, Dec. 2021
Event
Have a booth in the start-up zone at FOOMA JAPAN 2022 (7-10, Jun. 2022)
20, Dec. 2021
Event
Participated in the explanatory meeting of new products and services for integrators of robot systems (23, Mar. 2022)
10, Dec. 2021
Event
Participated in the Start-up matching meeting at Innovation Leaders Summit 2022 (16, Feb. 2022)