For Canadians of a certain era, the addition of the Canadarm to the US space shuttle program represented the crowning achievement of our country’s technological prowess. It was the subject of many science lessons in school and the inspiration for many engineering careers. Back then, robotic arms were just cool. And they still are.
Today, the Montreal-area robotics company kinova inc. continues the Canadian legacy of robotics innovation by developing ground-based robotic arms with profoundly human uses. Kinova co-founder Charles Deguire was inspired to apply space age technology to practical everyday uses from a very personal source. Growing up around three guys who had muscular dystrophy, he saw how the condition affected his ability to complete daily tasks. The need for automated help inspired Kinova’s first offering, which has become his flagship technology: the Jaco arm.
The Jaco arm can be attached to motorized wheelchairs to help users with a variety of daily tasks. It has brought autonomy and independence to the lives of people with physical disabilities, making it incredibly popular, and the product has helped fuel Kinova’s rapid growth for more than the last decade.
The success of the Jaco arm prompted Kinova to develop and distribute more technological innovations, including arm supports, eating devices, and surgical robotics. And in the midst of all the ideation, calculations, prototyping, and testing of the R&D process, a mandate is set: each product must meet the real, not theoretical, needs of the people who will use it.
Kinova’s human-centered, empathetic design ethos has led the design and engineering teams to expand into other applications for their technologies. In addition to robotics for personal use, the company now offers devices for manufacturing and surgical use, and these now account for the majority of company sales. For example, Kinova robotics are now used to perform lung biopsies, giving doctors deeper and faster access. In other applications around the world, they are used to dispose of hazardous materials, including explosive ordnance disposal in former conflict zones. This reduces human exposure to risky but certainly necessary work.
The company’s latest development is a Canadian-made collaborative industrial robot, or “cobot,” intended to do some of the jobs — especially the boring, dirty and dangerous ones — that are getting harder and harder to do.
The common thread, Deguire says, is using technology to expand the capabilities of human users. “We robotize tasks,” she explains. “We did that for people who use wheelchairs, expanding their reach. In surgery, we expand the capabilities of the surgeon.”
The value, Deguire says, is simple: “We’re giving humans better tools.”
Read more of the 2022 New Innovators List