1st Place
Rethinking Household Tasks For Elders With Soft Robotics
Team: Maya Grant (Grainger College of Engineering) & Ilalee Harrison James (Gies College of Business)
The concept is a hands-free method to open bottles and tops using Stretch. The team conceptualized an enhanced gripping mechanism comprised of a vacuum and suction gripper to increase friction for twisting applications and an end effector that can conform to a variety of objects. The soft, malleable gripper can adapt to different shapes and sizes, offering the potential to support opening and closing tops on a variety of household products. Prize: $1000 plus 20 hours in the McKechnie Family LIFE Home to develop and test the proposed product with expert consultation in Spring 2022.
Honorable Mention
Wayfinding Assistance for Aged People with Visual Impairments
Team: Shuijing Liu, Aamir Hasan, Eric Liang, Kaiwen Hong, Justin Lin, and Sean Yao (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
The concept utilizes Stretch for indoor wayfinding assistance for people with vision impairment. Integrating voice commands with Stretch’s pose estimation capabilities, users would verbally instruct Stretch on where to go while holding on to the robot’s arm during navigation. Prize: $500
Honorable Mention
A Universal Tool for Handles
Megan Bayles (College of Applied Health Sciences)
The concept is a universal tool that can be attached to a variety of different handles to make grasping objects with Stretch easier. Different prototypes for the tool will be created and tested, including 3D printed outer shells and infill materials like nylon and silicon. Prize: $500
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