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 January 28, 2010Barrett Posts Record Year in 2009 About Barrett Technology, Inc.
December 15, 2009Puck Advances with NSF Grant According to CEO Townsend, "the Puck is a disruptive game changer in my industry of robotic manipulators, which is why Barrett is growing. We believe that the Puck will also be a game changer in other industries as well. For example, motorized hand-held medical instruments where compactness, portability, low power consumption, high torque density, and oxygen compatibility are essential can benefit from the application of Puck technology. Before now, the solutions in many industries with these common needs have been very limited. Barrett will look for a commercial partner in 2010 to increase its access to these wider markets." About Barrett Technology, Inc.
September 2, 2009Harvard's SDM Hand – Worldwide Exclusive License Barrett expects the first production units to be available by 2011. About Harvard University's Office of Technology Development About Barrett Technology, Inc.
August 20, 2009Time Magazine Rates WAM Arms as #1 Robot in JapanBarrett makes Time Magazine's Top-10 List of robots in Japan, taking top spot.
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The financial results are in for 2009 with Barrett posting a record year. Top and bottom lines hit all-time highs for Barrett with continued strong demand for its WAM-arm systems. According to CEO William Townsend, "It is a testament to the compelling benefits of our robotic arms and hands that Barrett had its best year ever against a global backdrop of economic hardship." Fully 50% of 
Barrett's Puck, which already represents a breakthrough in brushless servomotor drivers, is on target to get even better. Having won a highly competitive US National Science Foundation grant, Barrett is taking the Puck to the next stage with new innovations that will reduce the size even further. The Puck is designed to drive fractional horsepower (up to 300W) servomotors and is especially well adapted to brushless servomotors that require electronic position sensing, which is provided by the Puck itself.
Barrett Technology, Inc. announced today the conclusion of a license 
Daisuke, please make room for your new team mates. A pair of Barrett WAMs are shown at play. One pitches a fast ball. The second WAM swings and bats the ball out of the park (lab area). According to Barrett CEO, Bill Townsend: "Japan is the quintessential home of the robot and the place to watch for emerging robot technology. There are more robot manufacturers in Japan than any other country on the planet, so it is particularly extraordinary that a pair of Barrett's WAMs made the Top-10 List, let alone the top spot. Of course, we owe most of this success to the genius of Professors Ishikawa-sensei and Namiki-sensei of the University of Tokyo. They have shown what can be done with the combination of WAM/Puck technology and ultra-high-speed machine vision."
We are proud that Barrett is recognized by Mouseover for video controls
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Intel CEO Craig Barrett look on as the WAM physically interacts with Arnold Schwarzenegger to open CeBIT'09. Barrett Technology customer Intel used its advanced electric-field proximity sensor on the BarrettHand to guide the arm-hand behavior during the ceremony. Their sophisticated system also has a camera in the palm. CeBIT is the largest information and telecommunications technology show in the world, and the Barrett Technology's WAM arm and BarrettHand represent the spirit of that show.
Photo Courtesy of Brad Hood, Intel Research Seattle
Video Courtesy of CeBIT'09
February 23, 2009
Barrett More Than Doubles its Shipments of WAMs in 2008 and
Cuts Warranty Costs
Barrett posts a record year in 2008, more than doubling the pace of new WAM installations. According to CEO Townsend, "our customers have been pleased with the new WAM-arm systems. In 2008 we noticed more customers purchasing full systems [with BarrettHand or Gimbals] and pairs of systems for a range of applications from product development to neural research." Based on the durability of these systems in the field, Barrett also cut the price of its extended-service contracts by half in 2008.
November 13 , 2008
WAM Increases Barrett’s Global Footprint
Spurred by the broad popularity of the WAM robotic arm, Barrett has now installed its equipment in 20 countries around the globe with new installations in China, Korea, and South Africa. Production at Barrett has been further streamlined in response to this rising demand. According to Barrett CEO, Townsend, “We are pleased that customers have begun to really take advantage of the capabilities that are unique to the WAM. And, we are dedicated to continue building our reputation for responsive application support and service during this period of expansion.”
March 1 , 2008
Barrett Reaches Record Sales Propelled by WAM Arms
and Puck Technology
Powered by its revolutionary "Puck" servodrive technology, Barrett breaks its all-time sales record on strong WAM-arm shipments in 2007. "We have been pleased with our steady growth and profitability since introducing the Puck in our WAM systems about 4 years ago." according to Barrett CEO and founder, Bill Townsend. "The first customers were top research institutions around the globe purchasing the systems to explore new levels of performance and human interactivity. Now we are getting traction in emerging applications among manufacturers where conventional-robot versatility falls short. We're also participating in medical surgery [via partner Nasdaq:MAKO] with several hundred successful partial-knee-implant surgeries, where the doctor and the robot share the cutting tool. Patients benefit from the best of seasoned human intuition and machine precision."
February 1 , 2008
Engineering Opportunities at Barrett
Barrett's steady growth has created recent openings for key engineering positions in power electronics and controls. Barrett is indebted to its customers who we feel will be well served by the continued strengthening our engineering team. For further information, click here.
September 25, 2007
Yoky Matsuoka Wins $1/2-Million MacArthur Award
Barrett Alum, Yoky Matsuoka, Recognized for Leadership in Advanced Robotics
US National television news covered the founder of the field of
neurorobotics, Prof. Yoky Matsuoka, last night as she received the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Genius Award. Yoky Matsuoka joined Barrett to lead the engineering team during the company's formative years in the 1990s, contributing to some of its most important technical achievements. Barrett's year-over-year growth today is due in large part to the enormous energy Yoky put into Barrett and its products. Yoky has continued to be a close friend ever since. Her persistent vision and encouragement have guided Barrett to its leadership role in advanced human-interactive robotics. According to Barrett founder, Bill
Townsend: "the MacArthur Foundation could not have chosen a more deserving award recipient. In addition to the intelligence, drive, and creativity presumed of a MacArthur Fellow, Yoky is also a terrific mother, professor, advisor, role model, loyal friend, and
person of deep professional integrity. Congratulations, Yoky!"
June 11, 2007
Barrett Wins Competitive NSF Grant
Highest Performance ServoElectronics Module is also World's Tiniest
and Most Efficient
Barrett has won a competitive grant from the National Science Foundation to commercialize its Ultra-Miniature Puck Brushless ServoElectronics Module. The "Puck" project has been multi-year project at Barrett to develop the world's smallest and most power efficient high-performance servomotor controller.
Barrett has been shipping Pucks™ in all of its robotic WAM™ arms for 2 years now with excellent results. The unique Puck-enabled features of its robotic arm are: 1. Absence of any controller cabinet (internal or external to the arm) improving reliability and portability. 2. Incredibly low power consumption (an order of magnitude less than any other arm in its class) for safety, portability, and the environment. 3. Ultra-high brushless-servo performance enabling application such as force-field enabled medical surgery.
With the huge success of its own use of the Puck in its WAM arm, Barrett is openly soliciting feedback from potential end users who seek ultra-power-efficiency and tiny size. Nearly all industrial precision machines rely on brushless servomotors that must be housed in a large separate "controller cabinet." While the Puck is not available outside Barrett's WAM™ arm today, NSF funding over the next 3 years will enable Barrett to develop features to make this module universally adaptable to a wide range of brushless-servomotor applications.
The hermetically sealed Puck is based on an innovation that makes a servo amplifier so power efficient that the size can be collapsed dramatically. The present PUCk (powerful universal controller) is black and shaped like a hockey puck, but is only 1/10th the volume. The new Puck will be even smaller and handle from 1 horsepower (700 watts) of motor power at the high end down to the tiniest brushless motors made. The Puck innovation also integrates precise rotor-position sensing and has its own 32-bit CPU, eliminating most of the wiring normally associated with brushless applications.
March 16, 2007
History Channel Unveils WAM Arm's Core Technology
History Channel's Modern Marvels
Barrett Technology, Inc.'s robotic WAM™ arm and the striking technology that drives it will be examined on the History Channel's Modern Marvels series on the evening of Wednesday, May 16, 2007. The show, called "It Came from Outer Space," explores key technologies funded by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
A portion of the show highlights Barrett's struggle to design the robotic arm that achieved the title of "most advanced robotic arm" in the special Millennium Edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. The program also unveils the most striking breakthrough in Barrett's history: "Puck™" motor technology, funded since 2000 under additional competitive awards from the US National Science Foundation and the US Department of Energy.
The History Channel is rated 3rd among 147 media brands, is a leading cable television network featuring compelling original, non-fiction specials and series that bring history to life in a powerful and entertaining manner. The Guinness Book of World Records is one of the most popular annual publications of all time.
January 25, 2007
WAM™ Code Gets Even Better
Prof. Rui Cortesão Integrates Task-Based Dynamic Model
Robot touch-control designer, Rui Cortesão, visits Barrett Technology from Portugal for three months this winter raising the touch performance of the WAM™ to a new level. Unique in robotics, the Whole-Arm Manipulator (WAM™) enables intrinsic touch sensitivity over the whole arm-- just like people. Harnessing this capability for real tasks though requires an enhanced control system, and that is where Cortesão's contributions fit in.
According to Cortesão : "Why did I come? I was compelled to come to Barrett. The WAM™ is the ultimate machine for breaking new ground in touch control. Other robot arms have far too much joint friction and other issues for intrinsic touch control. Fortunately, the tendon drives in the WAM's limbs are like mine: light and virtually frictionless. After I purchased a WAM™ for my university last year, I emailed Bill to propose my visit."
Townsend responds: "It seemed like an unusual request. Initially I was concerned about the logistics, but Rui's proposal was convincing. Now he seems like part of the family. It's been an exciting two months so far with simultaneous progress on WAMs™ here and in Europe. We are seeing and feeling dramatic results."
Rui Cortesão leads his research group at the University of Coimbra. He finished his Masters and PhD degrees in robotics under Prof. Gerd Hirzinger (head of the Robotics Institute at Germany's Space Agency, DLR) and completed his post-doctoral work in robotics under Prof. Oussama Khatib (Professor of Computer Science) at Stanford University. He regularly publishes papers in top robotics conferences and journals.
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