Many products in the modern world are in some way fabricated using computer numerical control (CNC) machines, which use computers to automate machine operations in manufacturing. While simple in concept, the ways to instruct these machines is in reality often complex. A team of researchers has devised a system to demonstrate how to mitigate some of this complexity.

Claire chatted to Miranda Lowther from the University of Bristol about soft, sensitive electronic skin for prosthetic limbs.

Miranda Lowther is a PhD researcher at the FARSCOPE-TU Centre for Doctoral Training, a joint venture between University of Bristol, University of West of England, and Bristol Robotics Laboratory, where she is pursuing her passion for using soft robotics and morphological computation to help people in healthcare. For her PhD, she is investigating how soft e-skins and morphological computation concepts can be used to improve prosthetic user health, comfort, and quality of life, through sensing and adaptation.

At Automate 2025, the company will display all four models from the range: the THE400, THE600, THE800 and THE1000. The compact THE400 is ideal for fast, precise operations in assembly and inspection processes, particularly within the electronics and automotive sectors.