A scientist at Cornell University is attempting to develop a robotic arm capable of feeding patients with spinal injuries.

Armed with a four-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation's National Robotics Initiative, Cornell scientist Tapomayukh Bhattacharjee aims to give those with spinal injuries a sense of independence with a robotic arm that can help with feeding tasks.

Source: Cornell University

To accomplish this, Bhattacharjee is developing a machine learning algorithm to guide the robotic arm to safely feed a person who struggles to feed themselves.

Eventually, Bhattacharjee suggests that the machine learning algorithms could personalize the process by teaching the robotic arm to learn a user’s preferences in terms of feeding, including bite transfer and bite acquisition.

“Everybody has their personal preferences. And if we really want a long-term caregiving solution, the solution needs to be personalized to the user. And just like a patient and a caregiver need time to get used to each other, it’s the same with a patient and a robot,” explained Bhattacharjee.

For more on the project, watch the accompanying video that appears courtesy of Cornell University.