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Controlling a robot arm for the disabled: the EXTENDER project wins the National Robotics Innovation Competition

Category: Press release Research

The EXTENDER project, winner of the Défi Transfert Robotique 2023 call for projects, is developing innovative interfaces to enable people with disabilities to control a robotic arm installed on their wheelchair. The project is supported by major players such as ISIR (Sorbonne University / CNRS), LAAS-CNRS, CETCOPRA (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), the Auctus project team (Inria Centre at the University of Bordeaux), Institut Pascal (UCA / CNRS, secondary supervisor of the Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital and member of Clermont Auvergne INP), the start-up ORTHOPUS, and a health centre: ESEAN AFP France handicap. EXTENDER is part of the France 2030 programme run by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche and BPI France.

Transferring academic robotics expertise to help disabled people live independently

French robotics research excels in the field of collaborative robot arms, known as ‘cobots’, robots designed to accompany, support or replace human gestures in an industrial environment. These technologies are potential solutions for the disability sector: robotic arms could meet the autonomy needs of people with reduced motor skills in their arms or hands.

The aim of the EXTENDER project is to use academic expertise in collaborative robotics, developed in research laboratories, to enable disabled people in wheelchairs to use a robotic arm to carry out everyday tasks. In order to respond to a wide range of situations, the main challenge is to design solutions that can be adapted and personalised according to the sensory-motor and cognitive abilities of the users. The project will therefore explore different interfaces: smart glasses, augmented reality headsets, voice control with generative AI, muscle, movement or brain activity sensors.

The robotic arm used for these tests will be the ORTHOPUS Explorer, developed by ORTHOPUS. ORTHOPUS, an ESUS-accredited high-impact start-up, designs robotic devices to provide independence for people with muscular weakness in their arms. With the results of the EXTENDER project, ORTHOPUS aims to take its social commitment one step further by offering new technological innovations to help people with motor disabilities become independent, fulfilled and included.

The EXTENDER project is part of a two-year research phase, at the end of which an industrialisation phase will be envisaged with a view to marketing the control solutions. This transition will depend on their effectiveness and relevance, both technologically and in terms of users’ needs.

Co-design at the heart of the project

In a multidisciplinary approach, the EXTENDER consortium brings together academic, industrial and medical expertise, involving :

Alongside these organisations, wheelchair users will be involved throughout the project, designing and evaluating solutions. Pilots will be taking part in the Cybathlon, an international competition in assistive technology for the disabled. Other users will take part in pre-clinical alpha and beta tests, to evaluate the technological building blocks selected during the laboratory trials. The involvement of a research team specialising in the socio-anthropology of technology will enable us to go beyond the simple framework of evaluating the performance of technologies (usability, safety, effectiveness, etc.), to also consider their uses and the socio-cultural context of their development.


Download the press release.


Press contacts:

– Manon Durocher, Sorbonne University Press Office, manon.durocher@sorbonne-universite.fr

Mona Jamois, ORTHOPUS Press Office, mona.jamois@orthopus.com

Julien Delage, ISIR Communications Manager, delage@isir.upmc.fr


Published on 21/01/2025.