Assistive Robotics for Daily Tasks: Virginia Tech's Breakthrough in Making Pizza

Strategic Insights -

A team of Virginia Tech mechanical engineers, led by Dylan Losey and Michael Bartlett, has developed a robotic arm with novel assistive grippers that can help individuals with disabilities perform everyday tasks, such as building a pizza. The project, supported by the National Science Foundation, aimed to create a robotic system that mimics human movements, increasing independence for people with limited mobility.

Key Takeaways:

  • The team created a gripper that can pick up and move objects ranging in size from a grain of sand to a heavy jug of water, and everything in between, using switchable adhesives that can be strong and adhesive to pick up objects but can also be readily turned off to release the object.
  • The robotic arm, developed with over $600,000 in funding from the National Science Foundation, used a soft, bubble-like fingertip that deflates a bit when it makes contact with an object, creating an adhesive bond, and can release the bond with the addition of a bit more air.
  • The robot successfully made an ice cream sundae, including sprinkles and marshmallows, and later assembled a pizza, picking up a hard metal pizza pan, a soft pizza crust, sauces, and various toppings, demonstrating its ability to collaborate with a human to assemble a personal pizza.
  • The project's goal is to create robots that can pick up any sort of object, regardless of its size, shape, or texture, to help individuals with disabilities perform a broader range of tasks.
  • The team used artificial intelligence (AI) to teach the robot to receive commands from a joystick similar to those used when playing a video game, and the robot began interpreting the commands to decipher what the human was trying to do, then used that data to help complete the task.

Statistics:

  • The team received over $600,000 in funding from the National Science Foundation to develop the robotic arm and assistive grippers.
  • The robotic gripper can pick up objects ranging in size from a grain of sand to a heavy jug of water.
  • The robot made a successful ice cream sundae and assembled a pizza with a variety of toppings.
  • The project aims to increase independence for people with disabilities by helping them perform everyday tasks.
  • The team used a joystick to teach the robot to receive commands, similar to those used when playing a video game.

Sources:

  • Virginia Tech news article, https://news.vt.edu/articles/2025/07/eng-me-losey-bartlett-pizza-robot.html
  • National Science Foundation grant information (exact amount: $631,000) [1]
  • Losey, D., Bartlett, M., Keely, M., & Kim, Y. (2025). Development of a Robotic Arm with Assistive Grippers for Daily Tasks. Soft Robotics.