Inspiring exchange between Loïc Manno and Helice.

This content is also translated in French on this page.

 

A mechanical engineer, Loïc is an expert in humanoid robots, with a sharp specialization in robotic hand design. His remarkable work led him to develop an innovative humanoid arm, an achievement that earned him the prestigious ESIEE Paris award. Today, he applies his talent at Enchanted Tools, a leading European player in the robotics world.

1. The Journey and Project Genesis

-How did you come to develop a humanoid arm?

Ever since I was little, I've always wanted to invent things. I had a very creative profile; I would draw, invent things with LEGOs, etc. My idol was Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, an engineer with no powers who creates his own exoskeleton armor to multiply his capabilities.

When I was in high school, I was torn between becoming a video game designer, designing characters, etc., or building things in the real world. I had a very strong attraction to sci-fi, especially the idea of optimized humans, like with exoskeletons and prosthetics.

So, I chose to pursue design and engineering to have a tangible impact on the real world. My goal at that point was already to specialize in humanoid or human-related robotics.

When I got to high school, I completed my first design project, a prosthetic arm. Then, when I entered my DUT (University Diploma of Technology), I was lucky enough to also have robotics projects within the IUT; I then designed another robotic hand and a robotic neck. Subsequently, when I entered engineering school, I did a first year-long apprenticeship at Emobot, where I was responsible for designing a small medical robot related to mental health. Unfortunately, the company moved in a more digital direction, which prompted me to look for another apprenticeship. While I was applying and searching for a new contract in the robotics field, I started designing my own robot to gain visibility and credibility with robot manufacturing companies. Later, I applied to Enchanted Tools and was hired. Today, I'm responsible for the thumb sub-assembly and working on the next version of the hand. For me, this work is a passion, and it's what I was looking for.

Alongside this new job, I continued to develop my own robot, which I've now named TRINITY.

-What motivated you to see it through, to the point of winning the ESIEE Paris award?

I had already started building my robot's arm for the reasons mentioned previously, and a classmate sent me an email informing me about this competition. I registered and won the award. But initially, the project wasn't created for this competition. What I added was the programming to make the hand move, going beyond just the mechanical part I had planned. It wasn't easy because that wasn't my area of expertise. So, I made the hand move during the competition, which I think helped attract the jury's attention beyond just the mechanical aspect. Soon, I'll be participating in Vivatech; in addition to the arm, I want to make the head move, so I'm continuing programming with the help of ChatGPT.

 

2. The Project Itself

-Can you simply describe how your arm works and what makes it special compared to what already exists?

It's an arm with seven degrees of freedom, to perform movements of the shoulder, bicep, forearm, and wrist. The hand has ten degrees of freedom. I designed actuators which are a combination of pulley-belt and epicyclic reducers. I also used linear actuators for the wrist and neck. I really focused on the design, which is more artistic than industrializable. It's made with a 3D printer; it couldn't be done with aluminum, for example, as it's not easily machinable. It was a rather artistic choice. What also differentiates it is that I designed some reducers a bit differently from usual. Normally, you have a motor and a reducer on the same cylinder. I decentered the reducer from the motor, which allows the motor's base to be moved towards the center of the robot. It therefore has less weight to lift when it raises its own arm, and the system is also flatter.

 

3. Accessibility and Practical Uses

-Do you think your prototype could eventually meet a real need for amputees?

I think that from the moment you make a robotic arm, the mechanics can be used to make a prosthetic hand; in that case, yes. Afterwards, you need to use sensory sensor technologies to understand what the user wants and translate it mechanically, which I don't master. But to answer the question, yes, if desired, the hand could be used to make a prosthesis. What I imagine is that if a company makes a hand for a robot, they can very well reuse it. Afterwards, it's a choice to create a pole dedicated to its adaptation to the human body; it depends on the company's choices and business model. I think it's possible. There are companies that already make prostheses, it would also be a risk to compete with them, an investment for a department when there are already competitors. It also depends on the design of the hand; of course, there are the actuators, the mechanical system, the battery, the control boards, etc. Companies that manufacture arms for robots don't place them in the same places; they prefer to put them in the forearms or torso, for example, so that would potentially require a redesign and a total reintegration of the hand's components. So, it wouldn't be that simple to integrate either.

-What do you think is currently blocking access to this type of technology?

I'm not the best person to talk about this, but my impression is that today, the blocking points are the customer and the robot's efficiency. A robot is good, but the price range goes from 15,000 to 100,000 euros. So, there are people very interested in ordering them, but for now, the humanoid robot is really too expensive or not efficient enough for companies to order 500, for example. What's blocking it, I think, is mainly customer demand and the technology. There's also the investment: are investors willing to take the risk of investing in such technological companies? We don't yet find enough people who want to buy them, knowing that most are still prototypes. The question is also: is the humanoid robot useful? For example, for vacuuming, it's useless to buy a robot just for it to hold the device; you'd rather buy a robot vacuum cleaner for €300. So the question is: how to optimize the humanoid robot so that, despite its cost, it is particularly useful? I think the humanoid robot will emerge the day it is so agile, a bit like a human, that we can say: "Finally, I'll take one that does everything, instead of buying a lot of small robots performing very specific tasks." At that moment, the robot will be the most useful technological solution, and going back will certainly be unthinkable. Currently, the question is rather the opposite: aren't a lot of highly specialized small robots better than just one? But that's just my opinion. It all depends. There are robots specialized in logistics or assembly. Others are much more involved in social interaction. The advantage at Enchanted Tools, for example, is that we are rather versatile, capable of doing logistics, grasping, interaction, and navigation. At that level, our robot is quite hybrid, but in some cases, robots are really very specialized, not versatile at all. But it's a market question: the more precise and specialized you are, the more interested B2B customers specialized in a sector are, rather than a robot that does everything but less than a specialized robot.

 

4. Needs & Support

-What did you lack (or do you still lack) to advance your project? (contacts, material, funding, tests...)

The main point is that, fundamentally, I'm only a mechanical engineer. I did the mechanical part, but for everything software and electronic, you really need people whose profession it is; it's difficult to master all three at once. In terms of funding, I financed everything myself, which influenced my design choices. I spent about €3,000 over two years to create it. Since I built everything with a 3D printer, that influenced my design, like very large gears, whereas in steel or aluminum, they would have been five times smaller. But the difference between a 3D-printed prototype and a real robot is that the printed prototype will cost €2,000 to build, while in aluminum, you quickly go up to more than €60,000. I also used servomotors, for example, which are really inexpensive. But if you want to make a more reliable humanoid robot, it naturally becomes much more expensive.

 

5. Sector Mapping

-Do you think a clear map of the actors in the field (technical, medical, suppliers, etc.) would be useful? What would save you time or prevent difficulties in your journey?

I think it's especially important to be well-surrounded, with people who have the necessary skills. In my case, it's mechanics. In my personal case, if I could have a list, it would be of mechanical solutions for motion transformations, anything that could enrich my technological knowledge. If there were a mapping of all existing mechanical systems, it would be easier to choose the one that corresponds to what you want to do. Or even a mapping comparing the different solutions of competing humanoid robots. But that's precisely why engineers are there, to invent new systems. Companies don't necessarily communicate about the technology they use in their hand; it's quite confidential unless it's a deliberate choice.