SARAH – The Next Canadian in Space
She’s only twice the size of your hand, but SARAH aims to be in space by 2008.
 SARAH, short for Self-Adaptive Robotic Auxiliary Hand, was designed specifically for the Canadarm2 at the International Space Station (ISS). The robotic hand can expect a heavy workload at the ISS: assembling the space station, moving cameras, and preparing excursion sites for the astronauts.
Although SARAH doesn’t look anything like a human hand, its designer describes it as mechanically intelligent. Dr. Clément Gosselin, an NSERC-funded mechanical engineer at Université Laval, says that the hand is simple to use because it needs only two controls. It also adapts to the shape of the object it’s holding and adjusts its grip accordingly.
This means SARAH can hold a soft drink can firmly without crushing it. The robotic hand can also lift and hold heavy objects, pour a glass of wine, and pick up a ring. You can view pictures and video of the blue robotic hand in action at http://wwwrobot.gmc.ulaval.ca/recherche/theme04_a.html.
The ISS mission is still a long way off and since SARAH is itching to go into space, another mission is planned for the near future – this one with the German Space Agency (DLR) in 2008.
SARAH was developed in the Robotics Laboratory at Université Laval in collaboration with MD Robotics and the Canadian Space Agency.
Contact:
Dr. Clément Gosselin
Université Laval
Tel.: (418) 656-3474
E-mail: gosselin@gmc.ulaval.ca
Web site: http://wwwrobot.gmc.ulaval.ca/~gosselin/
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