Jaco is a robot arm that was developed by Canadian Robotics company Kinova Rehab to help disabled people regain freedom. The lightweight robot is constructed with a carbonfiber outer shell, which makes it resistant to all types of weather and it can easily be installed on a person’s electronic wheelchair.
This so-called robot manipulator is designed to have 6 axes, and a hand with three fingers that can be individually controled. This gives the robot arm, and therefore the person, the opportunity to grasp objects like a glass of water. With a reach of 90 cm and a maximum weight load of 1.5 kilograms, this means just about anything in and around the house that would normally fit in a hand.
The arm was tested for a wide variation of products, which it was able to pick up. A test showed that Jaco could pour a glass of water and subsequently place a straw in the glass. Even more promising was the fact that it was able to pick up something as small and fragile as a strawberry, displaying a gentle pick-up besides a firm grip.
Even though Jaco is already available, research still continues to keep updating the functionality. An academic version was also launched for experimental purposes.
Kinova
