The new bot consists of a pressurized box from which long, vine-like tubes expand and grow. As they extend, the vines twist and coil around the object before returning to the box, where their tips automatically clamp into place and they are mechanically wound back to gently lift the object in a sling-like grip.
Researchers envision applications ranging from agricultural harvesting to loading and unloading heavy cargo. In the near future, they are exploring uses in elder care, such as helping to get a person out of bed safely. Often in nursing and rehabilitation settings, this transfer procedure is done with a patient lift, which requires a caregiver to carry the person to a hammock-like sheet that can be attached to equipment and lifted up. This manual step is unnecessary with the robotic system.
“Transferring a person from bed is one of the most physically demanding tasks a caregiver does,” says Kentaro Barheidet, a PhD candidate in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and one of the lead authors of the study. paper At work. “This type of robot can help relieve the burden of being a caregiver, and be softer and more comfortable for the patient.”
The key to the system, whose design was developed by Professor Harry Asada’s laboratory at MIT and Professor Alison Okamura’s laboratory at Stanford, is that it combines “open loop” and “closed loop” actions. In an open-loop configuration, a robotic bell can grow and move around an object, even getting under a person lying in bed. It can then continue to move back toward its base and attach to a pulley, forming a closed loop that can be pulled back to lift the object.
“People may assume that to grab something, you just reach over and grab it,” says Barheidt. “But there are distinct phases, such as positioning and holding. By alternating between open and closed loop, we can achieve new levels of performance by taking advantage of the benefits of both forms for their respective phases.”
While the team’s design was initially inspired by the challenges in caring for the elderly, it can also be adapted to other understanding tasks. A smaller version has been attached to a commercial robotic arm to lift various heavy and delicate objects, including a watermelon, a glass vase, and a kettlebell. Vines can also crawl through disorganized trash to retrieve a desired item.
“We think this kind of robot design can be adapted to many applications,” says Barheidt. “We’re also thinking about applying it to things like heavy industry and automating crane operations at ports and warehouses.”
