FUMoR: A miniature robot to act as a personal companion of elderly, patients

National Institute of Technology – Rourkela (NIT-R) has developed the functional primary prototype of the Flexible Universal Modular Robot (FUMoR) Version 1.0 which is envisaged to act as a personal companion of those in bed at hospitals or elderly persons at home.

This project is a collaboration between a mathematics professor of the host institute Prof Snehasish Chakraverty and a senior scientist of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Dr. Debanik Roy and it is funded by the Department of Science & Technology (DST).

FUMoR v1.0, which is capable of intelligent and efficient grasping of very small objects such as medicines, cotton balls, paper clips, spoons, and other engineering and medical/surgical components, is designed to guide and help elderly persons at home in day-to-day needs like assistance in feeding and medicines.

FUMoR v1.0 is designed by Roy, who is also an adjunct professor of Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI) and the dynamic model and vibration analysis of the system has been carried out by Chakraverty.

Miniature gripper, flexibility, and portability, along with a flexible link in gooseneck structure, novel miniature gripper with the infrared sensor, adjustable base height, and vertical positioning, and table-mounted mounted assembly for home and confined workspace applications, are unique features of the prototype.

It weighs around seven kilograms with a dimension of 400X600 mm and has a translational motion of 0-100 mm and rotational motion of 0-270 degrees.