Extend Robotics unveils new VR-controlled robotic arm

Aiming to produce affordable, dexterous robotic hardware for use in the healthcare, services, utilities and energy industries, Extend Robotics has revealed its Robot Toolkit which is said to offer ‘highly realistic’ human-like dexterity and reachability to six degrees of freedom. 

Reportedly featuring real-time, immersive and intuitive control using the latest VR technologies, the VR teleoperated robot has been developed in-house at the company’s headquarters in Reading. The video shown above demonstrates how the robotic arm can be operated remotely by a human operator.

“At Extend Robotics, our vision is to extend human capability beyond physical presence,” explained Dr. Chang Liu, founder and CEO of Extend Robotics and former research associate at Imperial College, London. “Our mission is to democratise dexterous teleoperation at scale over the next three years, designing cost-effective robotic arms capable of remote operation from anywhere in the world, using cloud-based teleoperation software.”