FuzeHub grant supports development of collaborative robot

Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) has been awarded a $50,000 manufacturing grant from the FuzeHub Innovation Fund to support its work with New Scale Robotics, accelerating development of New Scale’s precision measurement and gripping tools for a wide range of collaborative robots (cobots).

New Scale has a line of precision grippers, calipers and other tools that install in minutes on cobots from Universal Robots. New Scale will collaborate with Dr. Sam Samanta, head of the Instrumentation and Controls program at FLCC, and his students to develop a Smart Platform that expands plug-and-play compatibility of New Scale Robotics tools to multiple additional cobot brands.

A new cobot will be purchased and housed at FLCC as part of the grant. Dr. Samanta will act as consultant on the Smart Platform development project and may use the cobot to teach students, demonstrate cobot applications, and problem-solve any issues that surface during development.

FuzeHub is the statewide New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program (MEP) center, supported by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology, & Innovation. It is a not-for-profit organization providing small to medium-sized manufacturers with guided access to an extensive network of industry experts, programs and assets to solve business growth challenges. Its Innovation Fund is designed to spur technology development and commercialization across New York State. Manufacturing Grants from the Fund are available to New York State not-for-profit organizations, including higher education institutions, which are proposing innovative projects to be undertaken with small to medium-sized manufacturers or early-stage companies with a project relevant to the manufacturing sector.