Supernmerary 3DOF Robotic Arm
Photo credit: Université de Sherbrooke
This isn’t a movie prop, but rather a real waist-mounted robotic arm developed by researchers at the Université de Sherbrooke in Canada. Think of it as a hydraulic, remote-controlled supernumerary robotic arm, complete with 3 degrees of freedom, actuated by magnetorheological clutches and hydrostatic transmissions to mimic a real human arm.



The robotic arm weighs in at slightly over 8.8-pounds, can lift 11-pounds, and has a maximum end effector speed of 7.6 mph. In the future, sensors could enable the arm to perform more delicate tasks, like picking vegetables or soft fruits.

Robosen Transformers Grimlock Flagship Edition - Auto Transforming Robot, Remote App Control, Voice...
  • Auto-converting Transformers - Robosen Flagship Grimlock auto-converting robot is everything you’ve always loved about Transformers updated for the...
  • Voice Interaction & Authentic G1 Sounds - Grimlock has built-in 150+ original Transformers audio lines, recorded exclusively for Robosen by Gregg...
  • APP Control - Control Grimlock in both dino mode and robot mode simply from the app. Enjoy quick responses with Bluetooth BLE 5.0 as you remote...

But, for now, it is still not too bad having this arm on my hips, since it’s only 4.2 kg (without payload) and it is located near my center of mass (to reduce inertia). I get used to it quickly, and I can compensate for some of the movements (x, y, and z translational movements), but I still have some remaining issues to compensate for torsion movements (like if the arm is hitting a tennis ball with a racket), which is funny,” said Catherine Véronneau, lead author to IEEE Spectrum

Author

A technology, gadget and video game enthusiast that loves covering the latest industry news. Favorite trade show? Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.