Posted

SOLON, Ohio – Dec. 2, 2011 – HDT Global (HDT), a leading provider of highly-engineered mobile military and emergency response solutions, announced today that its HDT Robotics Division has completed the acquisition of Kinea Design, LLC based in Evanston, Illinois.

A technology leader in human/robotic collaboration, Kinea specializes in advanced medical robotics applications and user interface/control capabilities, including touch-sensitive control and haptics. The Kinea team will add a new dimension to the HDT Robotics Division, including experience in rehabilitation robotics, robot assisted surgery and in industrial ergonomic assisted robots.

“We at HDT Robotics are very pleased to have Kinea join our team, and look forward to our continued success in both prosthetics and robotics technology development,” said Tom Van Doren, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer of HDT Robotics Inc.

HDT Robotics and Kinea worked closely together on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 (RP2009) Program that resulted in developing an upper-extremity prosthesis known as the Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL).  As part of the HDT Robotics team, Kinea engineers developed much of the wrist, hand, and fingers, including fingertip sensors.  

Utilizing technology it developed under the RP2009 Program, HDT Robotics offers a ruggedized robotic arm, the MK1, which can be mounted to any mobile platform for use by the military and law enforcement units. With near human dexterity, strength, and speed, this manipulator arm allows users to grasp and handle irregularly shaped objects.  The company continues to advance this technology and is currently developing a two-armed robot, which will add even more flexibility and capability for completing hazardous missions.