Rescue Arm

2017

Telescoping / soft gripper · BUILD TIME 3 hrs · Field deployed

At 16, I helped build a telescoping robotic arm used alongside firefighters to pull a trapped puppy to safety. We heard the news while preparing for a robotics competition and built it within three hours, with a soft gripper for field use.

The narrow well shaft where the puppy was trapped, too small for a person to enter — Fig. 01The well: a shaft too narrow for anyone to climb down, opening into a small cave at the bottom where the puppy was trapped. That is what the arm had to reach.

Reuters · 2017

"Rescue of puppy from Istanbul well captivates Turks"

Read the story → Euronews · 2017

"Robotic arm used to save puppy from well"

Read the story → New York Post · 2017

"Puppy trapped in well captivates the entire country of Turkey"

Watch the clip →

Fig. 02Footage from the Japanese TV program 奇跡体験!アンビリバボー (Kiseki Taiken! Unbelievable), which featured the rescue.

Fig. 03Raw footage from the rescue site: the arm working in the well alongside the rescue teams.

Onat Cakici connecting the battery to charge the pneumatic reservoir for the rescue arm's gripper during the well rescue — Fig. 04That's me connecting the battery to recharge the gripper's pneumatic tanks after a line broke, just before we lowered the arm into the well.

Onat Cakici and a teammate holding the telescoping pneumatic rescue arm and soft gripper they built — Fig. 05Me and my friend with the arm we built.

The assembled telescoping pneumatic rescue arm with soft gripper, built by Onat Cakici with Team Integra 3646 — Fig. 06The assembled telescoping arm and soft gripper.

Next: FRC 3646 →

Now building: Porter, an autonomous indoor delivery robot →