Mobile X-Ray Machine Wins the Tenth Anniversary IEEE/IFR IERA Award

Medical Application Convinced

Left to right: Dr. Shinsuke Sakakibara, awards committee; Prof. Xiaorui Zhu, awards committee; Prof. Alexander Verl, awards committee; Dr. Guy Caverot, BA Systemes, IERA Award winner; Dr. Raj Madhavan, awards chair; Arturo Baroncelli, IFR president

The 10th annual Invention and Entrepreneurship Award in Robotics and Automation (IERA) was presented to Dr. Guy Caverot, BA SYSTEMES for a mobile base designed to receive an X-ray machine. The session was held at the conference of the China International Robot Show (CIROS) in Shanghai, China.

“The awards committee honoured BA SYSTEMES because of the transfer and commercialization of industry knowledge to medical systems and for meeting the strict certification standards”, commented Raj Madhavan, Vice President of IEEE-RAS Industrial Activities Board and Chairman of the Awards Committee.

“I am very happy to receive this award because it rewards all the employees of BA SYSTEMES for their excellent work. I thank the jury who acknowledged the importance of innovation management to lead such entrepreneurial project that challenges people and technology. The prestigious IERA Award is a great honour for our company which seeks the implementation of robotic systems not only in factories and workshops but also in the medical field to ease the life of individuals whatever their activity is.” stated Dr. Guy Caverot, BA SYSTEMES.

A robot in a surgery room is an enormous challenge

BA SYSTEMES had created a mobile base designed to receive an X-ray machine. The innovation remains in a robot with movement control, a navigation system with proximity detection, omnidirectional displacement, and an X-ray picture chain on a 3-5 axis gantry. The system guides various cardiovascular and oncology procedures through 3D imaging. This project represents a major technological breakthrough in the health field in providing innovative, flexible and secure solution in the highly demanding environment of hybrid surgery rooms.

This newest image guided system for surgery allows: 3D imagery and by sections. The sterility widely increased. The robot is perfectly integrated with surgical equipment and it is a safe and reliable device. The automated mobile system enables to park it when it is not used. The surgeon’s requirement to access the patient is respected. Moreover, the surgical intervention can be evaluated in real time. The BA SYSTEMES laser guidance system implemented on the machine has a millimetric accuracy.

BA Systems is specialized in AGVs

European leader in intralogistics, BA SYSTEMES offers solutions for industries for 35 years. The robust installations are composed of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) and their supervision software developed in-house. The company implements the open innovation model since 2007 to spread innovation and maximizing its potential. Thanks to this method, BA SYSTEMES can design products always more innovative. The know-how in mechatronics and mobile robotics of the company added to the skills of its academic partners enable to answer new needs of end-users.

The other two nominated finalists were:

• Yang Yang, Gao Jinrui and Zheng Yongquan, Chaint Robotics, China
  Robotic Automatic Finishing System for Iron Castings
• Charles Deguire, Kinova, Canada
  JACO Rehab edition

In 2005 the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE/RAS) and the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) agreed to jointly sponsor the Invention and Entrepreneurship Award. The purpose of this award is to highlight and honor the achievements of the inventors with value creating ideas and entrepreneurs who propel those ideas into world-class products. At the same time the joint disposition of the award underlines the determination of both organizations to promote stronger collaboration between robotics science and robotics industry. The annual presented award consists of a plaque and a $2,000 honorarium.

Previous winners are:

• 2005 Joe Jones, (i-Robot, USA), Roomba vacuum cleaner robot
• 2006 Rainer Bischoff (KUKA Roboter, Germany), collision-avoiding industrial robots
• 2007 Hugh Durrant-Whyte (Patrick Technologies, Australia), port automation robotic systems
• 2008 joint-winners
  Mick Mountz, Pete Wurman and Raffaello D’Andrea (Kiva Systems, USA), Cooperating mobile robots for logistics
  Thomas Brandstetter, Dieter Steegmueller and Michael Zuern (Daimler, Germany), Cooperating stationary industrial robots used for assembly
• 2009 Yoshiyuki Sankai (Cyberdyne Inc., Japan), Robot Suit HAL
• 2010 Alexander Verl (Fraunhofer IPA, Germany), Inline Measurement Robots
• 2011 Bruno Maisonnier (Aldebaran Robotics, France), Humanoid Robot NAO
• 2012 joint-winners
  Gino De-Gol (RoboCoaster Ltd., UK), Passenger Carrying Industrial Robotics
  Thomas Visti and Esben Østergaard (Universal Robots Aps, Denmark), UR5 - a flexible and eco-friendly robot arm
• 2013 Robert Horst (AlterG Inc., USA), Tibion Bionic Leg