United States
As it became evident that the pandemic was going to have a devastating and lasting impact on the world, the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute was uniquely poised to address the challenge. By focusing on remediating the impacts of the virus, we could use the skills and talents of our roughly 300-member national consortium to make a meaningful impact on our nation’s recovery.
Our membership responded to this challenge with projects that fell into a few categories - those aimed at minimizing the spread of the virus through robotic disinfection, those focused on expediting the production of personal protective equipment like face masks and hygienic gowns, and others targeting the production of the materials and processing equipment needed for widespread and rapid community testing.