'MILO' Robotic Device Holder
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Jan 2025 - June 2025 | Northwestern Medical Makers
Designed and built a 3-axis SCARA robotic arm with grounded mobility, voice control, and face tracking to help spinal cord injury patients at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab interact with mobile devices.
CAD
Reinforced Arm Design
Original SCARA Arm Base Design
New SCARA Arm Base Design
Our robot was split into 3 main subsystems: the vertical tower, horizontal arm, and rotating base. As the lead for the rotating base subsystem, I redesigned the entire base to a circular form, optimizing mass distribution by relocating bearings and motor housing closer to the tower center. This structure enabled a plug-in connection to the grounded mobility system, improving modularity and ease of maintenance. I also contributed to other design iterations such as reinforcing the horizontal arm to reduce deflection and ensure compatibility with our ROS-based control system.
SCARA Arm Assembly
Building and Testing
All structural and functional components were FDM 3D printed on a Bambu Lab printer using PLA and PLA Tough. Bearings were press-fit into the printed parts, and pulley systems were manually assembled.
Whole Robot DemoPulley System DemoVertical Arm DemoResults
Fully assembled and tested the working prototype at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, receiving positive feedback from spinal cord injury nurses. Our team earned an Honorable Mention in the TOM Global Innovation Challenge and began discussions with SRAL’s team to explore broader applications, such as hands-free sipping solutions. Also developed a detailed 40-step assembly guide and continued iterating the design post-testing.
Face Tracking Demo
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