Soft robotic arm could put objects in reach for wheelchair users

Through the four-year project, robotics engineering researchers Cagdas Onal, Berk Calli, and Loris Fichera from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts, are developing a framework for the design, modelling, and control of soft continuum robotic arms that are more flexible than traditional robot arms. The research is funded by a $1,314,792 award from the US National Science Foundation (NSF). 

“The basic scientific discoveries we are making in this research address real-world challenges for people who use wheelchairs and need devices that will help them grab out-of-reach objects,” said Onal, who is principal investigator on the project and an associate professor in the WPI Department of Robotics Engineering. “A new class of lightweight, safe robotic arms based on the breakthroughs we are making would give those individuals more independence in their daily activities.”

 According to WPI, soft continuum robotic arms expand, shrink, and bend along their entire length to move in different directions and travel around objects, thereby making soft robotics a promising technology in complicated human environments. However, soft robotic arms also tend to be weaker, shakier, and less precise than traditional robot arms made from rigid materials.