Praise for robotic arm designed by City University students that could have wide applications in construction, medicine and other industries
- The self-learning arm, called Jarvis, was the stand-out exhibit at the university’s event showcasing new technology to industry figures
A self-learning robotic arm invented by a group of students at City University was the star attraction at an event showcasing new technology at the university on Tuesday, winning plaudits from a construction industry employer, who hopes it can be applied for industrial use.
The innovation was one of 40 inventions shown to hundreds of employers at the event.
The voice- and motion-activated digital tool called Jarvis, which is equipped with an array of grips, is trained by an AI manipulating system that uses big data to recognise patterns and characteristics and has a range of movements similar to those of a typical human being.
To allow the robot to complete tasks without needing to be programmed, five designers from City U’s department of mechanical engineering inputted a number of images into the machine so it could derive generalisations.
“The arm has been able to identify apples and oranges and complete tasks like picking an apple out of a pile of oranges, or repetitive demands like putting a number of apples into a basket,” explained one of the researchers, Ho Cheuk-lung, a final-year mechatronics major.
“By putting your palm in front of the system’s camera, it can also be controlled manually and remotely to perform tasks mirroring your movements, which could become useful in advanced manufacturing,” said another designer, She Ka-chun.
