The Mini Bento Arm is a 3D printable robotic arm designed specifically for education and take home rehabilitation applications. Building off the success of the full-scale Bento Arm (which has been used extensively as a robotic prosthesis for myoelectric training and research), the 1/3 scale Mini Bento Arm provides many of the same features for a fraction of the cost. The XL330-M288-T actuators from Robotis are used in the arm to provide up to 4 movements and include joint feedback that can be used for sensory feedback or machine learning. The arm can be controlled through a computer via our brachI/Oplexus software or directly via the onboard OpenRB-150 controller through an Arduino interface. 

The Mini Bento Arm is currently in development with an open source release planned for Fall 2023. If you would like to try building one sooner, please email us to request early access to the 3D printing and assembly files.

The following trailer video gives a sneak peak of the Mini Bento Arm and some of the things it can do:

Acknowledgements:

We would like to thank the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) and the University of Alberta for their continued support in this project.