All projects
Physical AI for Good · Spooky Civic AI Hackathon
Helping Hands AI
A robot helper you just talk to, and it fetches what you ask for.
The problem
Older adults who live alone and people with shaky or weak hands struggle with everyday reaching and carrying.
What they built
Say “put the apple in the bowl” or “bring me some water,” and the robot does it and answers out loud. In simulation it moves fruit, stops instantly when you say “stop” and hands over a cup of water.
What works (in simulation)
- Talk to it. A voice assistant holds the conversation and tells the robot what to do.
- Putting an apple in the bowl works reliably. An orange works about half the time, and a banana on a plate doesn’t yet.
- Saying “stop” freezes the arms within a second, mid-task.
- An SO-101 arm picks up a cup of water and sets it in a person’s hand, planned by Viam’s motion service.
- Everything runs through Viam, so you can watch the simulated arms live in the Viam app.
Summary adapted from the team's own project write-up.
