Offers View Into Window Installations Using Robots

Most people might not know what the group YKK does, but they've certainly seen their logo on the zipper of their favorite winter coat. YKK Group, short for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha, is a group of different manufacturing companies based out of Japan. The world's largest producers of zippers, YKK also manufactures products much bigger than zippers, such as industrial machinery and architectural products. YKK's latest endeavor into the worlds of both industrial machinery and architectural products brings us to the group's collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, spearheaded by Kenji Shimada , a CMU professor of mechanical engineering. The American branch of YKK is working with Shimada's lab and team at the Computational Engineering and Robotics Laboratory (CERLAB). Shimada and his team are currently working on a project creating robotic fenestration products for YKK. Fenestration refers to the process of installing windows in a building.