Wellness at the touch of a button

6. august 2025 | FAULHABER Nordic ApS

• Automation & Robotter
• Underleverandører

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Shower Massage System rotated by FAULHABER DC-Motor

Who wouldn't like a vigorous back massage every day? Ideally at home, quickly and without any extra work. After all, well-being begins with daily body care – especially when it is effortless and pleasant. This is precisely where aids for daily living can help: They bring comfort into the bathroom. The family-run Swiss company Aglaja has the perfect solution here. The innovative, specially-developed shower system with massage brushes utilizes a FAULHABER motor to ensure the desired rubdown. For individuals with limitations and special needs, it offers practical help with body care.

Bruno Oberli originally trained in the trade of butchery and later became a truck driver. After long days at the wheel, he increasingly suffered from back problems. "Every evening under the shower I imagined how nice a massage would feel," the founder and managing director of Aglaja recalls. "So, I started to think and sketch how I could accomplish that." Without the appropriate training but equipped with a deep technical understanding, he simply got to work. With help from friends and colleagues, he developed the first prototype.

The "back" as a common illness

According to the "Back Report" of Rheumaliga Schweiz (Swiss Rheumatism League) in 2017, 43 percent of the Swiss population complained of back pain in the four weeks preceding the survey. In Germany in 2021, nearly one third of people had visited a doctor due to back pain. Bruno Oberli thus had good reason to assume that he wasn't alone in wishing for a daily massage. Together with his wife Jeannine Wäckerlin, he laid the cornerstone for the company, which targeted this market, in 2007.

"We had absolutely no experience. It was learning by doing," he explains. "A bit of luck was also involved, as we found good people right from the start who supported us with a great deal of commitment," she adds. A designer congenially realized the basic technical concept. There were likewise suitable suppliers of the individual parts for a high-end product in Switzerland. A nearby workshop that offers jobs to people with disabilities took on most of the production steps, from the manufacture of the prototypes to the assembly of today's series parts. From the initial collaboration, long-standing partnerships have been created. The products are ultimately completed in the company's own plant.

Brush with wave effect

A large part of the development efforts flowed into perfecting the brush, explains Bruno Oberli: "It has contact with the skin, therefore making it a decisive component. The brush should massage vigorously but not scratch or even scrape the epidermis. It should, however, remove the particles of dead skin. To do this, it needs the right bristles." Their ends are rounded off with a special machine. The number and arrangement of the bristles likewise plays an important role. On the roller brush of the shower systems from Aglaja, half of the surface is provided with bristles. Their V-shaped arrangement produces a wave movement on the skin, thereby amplifying the massage effect.

Close-up of a blue roller brush from the Aglaja shower system surrounded by two hands, one of which is moving over the bristles.
This can, of course, only occur if the brush rotates, ideally seventy or eighty times per minute. The founders of Aglaja determined the ideal number of rotations through trial and error. This number of rotations should always be available regardless of how hard the user pushes against the brush. The motor must, of course, be small enough to fit inside the brush but also deliver a very high power. Furthermore, its controller needs to be able to compensate for the varying load with minimal delay.

Strong drive that operates at a whisper
With that, a number of the strengths of the 2642...CXR brushed DC-motor from FAULHABER are already listed. It performs its work within the Aglaja brush with the support of a 22GPT planetary gearhead with a reduction of 72:1. In a diameter of just 26 millimeters, the combination offers enormous torque that ensures uniform rotation even under strong pressure.

This drive replaced a model that came from a different supplier about two years ago. While searching for an alternative, he found what he was looking for at FAULHABER – and was also surprised: "There is a world of difference between the two models with respect to noise development. While the shower is running, the FAULHABER motor can barely be heard. If the user does notice it, then only as a quiet sound with a pleasant frequency. It's not only the volume that matters but also the type of sound."

Efficient and resilient
Logically, the motor must also be able to tolerate moisture. Even though the exterior of the brush largely keeps out the shower water, condensation within the construction is unavoidable. Not only just plain water vapor is able to penetrate there. In addition to residues from shampoo and body wash, it is above all the cleaning agents and their vapors that cause the interior of the massage devices trouble. "A typical motor from the mass market wouldn't last a month," explains Bruno Oberli. "The FAULHABER motors, on the other hand, are characterized by their strong resistance to chemicals. Since we started using them, there has not been a single complaint."

This means that the motor runs and runs…, and – thanks to its ironless technology – does so with maximum efficiency, i.e., it optimally utilizes the available power. When used daily by two people, the battery of the massage brush easily lasts three weeks. A charge lasts slightly less for the 'Shower system supérieur," which has a second motor for adjusting the height of the brush.

Close-up of a mounted massage brush of the Aglaja shower system with blue and turquoise bristles. In the foreground, a hand holds the remote control that operates the massage function.
Skeptics convinced
Aglaja markets its products worldwide, whereby the home market in Switzerland not-so surprisingly plays a disproportionally large role. For most customers, the feel-good effect of the short daily massage stands in the foreground. For about one quarter of them, as estimated by the two owners, there are other reasons for using the rotating brush. It is used, for example, by competitive athletes after training and competition. People with skin conditions use it to rubdown and moisturize skin areas on the back that would otherwise be difficult to reach. For people with upper limb deficiencies, the brush can replace a second hand during daily body care. Furthermore, it can also be used for lymph drainage and for fasciae massage.

Those who were initially skeptical are eventually convinced, explains Jeannine Wäckerlin: "We hear a typical story time and again from the couples among our customers. One of the two wants the shower system while the other puts little stock in it. A couple weeks after the purchase, the originally skeptical partner is thrilled by our product and can't imagine living without it." Wellness at the touch of a button convinces after all.