Editor's note: This article is part of the State of Smart Manufacturing theme week.

Robotic arms, known in some circles as linear or gantry robots, are intended to do as advertised: behave like the human arm.

With most designs featuring a shoulder, elbow, forearm and wrist, these robotic arms are arguably an improvement upon the original design in terms of speed and efficiency when performing repetitive tasks over prolonged periods of time.

Operating either individually or as a component of larger equipment, the robotic arm can reportedly increase speeds and production rates, perform heavy duty lifting and pick and place objects accurately, among other tasks.

As such, the often motor driven devices are being eyed for a growing list of applications ranging from food processing and handling to surgery. Follow along with GlobalSpec as we take a look at some of the use cases for robotic arms.

Pringles picking

A team of researchers from the University of Bristol in the U.K. has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven bimanual robot that responds to real-time tactile feedback to precisely pick up delicate objects like individual Pringles chips without breaking them.

The “Bi-Touch” system employs two limbs versus the typical one limb iteration and its developers suggest that training the system for certain tasks takes just a few hours in a simulation environment.

Its developers envision that the Bi-Touch system could one day be used in industries such as fruit-picking, domestic services and to potentially restore touch sensations in artificial limbs.

Omelet making

Engineers from the University of Cambridge in the U.K. have reportedly trained a robotic arm to make omelets.

Using machine learning, the robotic arm is reportedly capable of every step in the creation of an omelet from cracking the eggs to whisking, cooking and placing the completed omelet on a plate.

Picking

Sometimes we could use just a little help picking stuff up, and thankfully, some robotic arms have been designed to do just that. First up is an octopus-inspired robotic arm from China’s Beihang University and Tsinghua University. According to its developers, this octopus-inspired robotic arm is haptically controlled and can grasp, lift and carry objects on both land and underwater.

According to its developers, this robotic arm resembles the real thing: a tentacle that furls and unfurls to grasp objects. The robotic arm is reportedly capable of grasping objects by applying vacuum pressure from the suction cups located on the underside of the tentacle.

Ship decommissioning

Leviathan, a German ship recycling firm, promises to make the decommissioning of heavy container ships safer and cleaner using robotic arms.

Large container ships no longer in operation can be cut into smaller, more manageable pieces by blasting the ship’s steel with powerful jets of sand and water deployed from robotic arms.

This reportedly low carbon process, which uses electrically powered robotic arms, will turn a typically illegal and unsafe activity into a safer process via automation.

Welding

Amid a global shortage of skilled welders, robotics firm Acieta has developed a robotic arm for welding.

The “FastARC” features a Fanuc CRX-10iA/L 6-axis robotic arm mounted on a mobile platform. The robotic arm is designed to take on simple welding tasks, thereby freeing up skilled welders for more complex welding tasks.

The system can work safely alongside human workers, ceasing operations if one of the system’s robotic arms makes contact with a human worker.

Boxing

A team from China’s Qibot Robot Company has reportedly built the world's fastest boxer bot.

Dubbed Qibbot, the single-armed robot can extend its one arm nearly 5 ft, stands more than 6 ft tall and can be teleoperated. Further, Qibbot’s developers suggest that the robot’s response delay time of 12 milliseconds makes it the world's fastest.

The team is eyeing Qibbot for future military and crime-fighting applications.

Battlefield medics

Researchers from the University of Sheffield in England have developed a robot, outfitted with two robotic arms, capable of performing first aid in extreme environments where medical personnel cannot reach.

Using medical telexistence (MediTel) technology, the robot features two robotic arms and virtual reality (VR) systems that can remotely operate medical tools for assessing the condition of a casualty within 20 minutes. The robot can reportedly perform assessments such as palpation of the abdomen, administer pain relief via an auto-injector and autonomously stream real-time data to a remote operator.

Dental surgery

A dental robot designed for assisting dentists with implant surgery has been developed by tech startup Neocis.

The Yomi robot is engineered to assist human dentists with dental implant surgery. The precision and accuracy of the robot was made possible thanks to haptic feedback, audio cues and intuitive visualization.

Capable of assisting with the preoperative and interoperative phases of dental implant surgery, Yomi features a robotic arm that is guided by a clinician, a tracking arm that is connected to the patient and follows their location in real-time and the YomiPlan software suite.

Four-arms

Another medical use case for robotic arms was developed by researchers from École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

The EPFL team claims that their four-armed robotic surgical system, which is designed to perform laparoscopic surgeries, is the first of its kind.

The system features two additional robotic arms that are controlled via haptic foot pedal interfaces with 5 degrees of freedom.

While each existing robotic arm controls the manipulative instruments associated with laparoscopic surgery, the additional set of secondary robotic arms hold an endoscopic camera and an actuated gripper.

Pest prevention

An unexpected use case for robotic arms come from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University who have built an autonomous robot for controlling the spread of spotted lanternflies — invasive insects capable of destroying crops.

The TartanPest robot is comprised of an all-electric tractor, a robotic arm and computer vision, which enable the robot to navigate fields and forests to locate and destroy spotted lanternfly egg masses.

To build the TartanPest, researchers mounted a robotic arm to the base of an all-electric Amiga microtractor developed by robotics company Farm-ng. Further, TartanPest employs a deep learning model trained on an augmented image data set built from roughly 700 images of spotted lanternfly egg masses, which enable the robot to identify and scrape them off surfaces.

Spider arms

When one robotic limb just won’t do…A system of spider-like robotic limbs, featuring six arms that can be controlled by the wearer, has been developed by the Japanese robotics company Jizai Arms.

The robotic arms can reportedly be attached, detached or replaced entirely, thereby impacting how humans interact with robots and AI.

“Jizai arms is a supernumerary robotic limb system consisting of a wearable base unit with six terminals and detachable robot arms controllable by the wearer. The system was designed to enable social interaction between multiple wearers, such as an exchange of arm(s), and explore possible interactions between digital cyborgs in a cyborg society,” explained a spokesperson from the company.

Pumping gas

AutoFuel, a manufacturer of a robotic refueling system of the same name based in Denmark, has automated gas station refueling.

The autonomous robotic system features a robotic arm that is capable of refueling cars.

To use the system, car owners must first pre-register details about their vehicle — including fuel type, license plate and payment information. Additionally, the vehicle must also feature a specialized gas tank cap that the robotic arm can manipulate.

Piecing together the past

Under the Reconstructing the Past: Artificial Intelligence (RePAIR) Project, researchers assembled antique artifacts using AI and robotic arms.

To physically rebuild ancient broken artworks — including 2,000-year-old frescoes from the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, which was destroyed by the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 CE — the team created an AI-based robot featuring robotic arms that physically pieces relics together.

Paper airplanes

Engineers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne have developed a robotic arm that can design, build and launch paper airplanes.

The researchers have automated the trial-and-error process of finding the appropriate design for paper airplanes, accomplishing the goal of both increasing flight time and distance.

To enable the robotic arm to design, build and launch the paper airplanes, researchers first developed a software application for creating the plans for paper airplane construction. Following completion of the design phase, the system’s accompanying app sends the plans to a robot arm that draws and cuts out the plan from a single sheet of paper. The robot arm then folds the paper, once the plane is cut out, into an appropriate shape and places it on a device that launches the finished paper airplane across a test pad.

This GlobalSpec feature barely scratches the surface, so to speak, on robotic arms. Check back with GlobalSpec for more on this and other engineering topics.