This is a robot assistant that you wear

Researchers at the University of Maryland's Small Artifacts Lab (SMART LAB) have been working on a small wearable robot called Calico. The robot weighs only 18 grams and is attached to special tracks sewn into your clothing. It can then do things like act as a stethoscope to listen to your heart and lungs and guide you through a fitness session.

The Calico robot can carry a 20-gram payload and can move at a speed of 115 mm per second to 227 mm per second. Thanks to its low-power design, the robot's 100 mAh battery allows it to last for more than 8 hours in idle mode and can provide more than 30 minutes of energy reserve when moving continuously. The next step is to add wireless charging to further extend the robot's working time.

The research team mentioned in their introduction that the wearable robot can accept many tasks. For example, the microphone and stethoscope attachments enable the robot to sense vital signs, the robot can move to a predetermined position to listen to your organs, or a doctor can remotely operate it in real time. When you fall, the acceleration sensor on the robot can quickly identify and send the information.

If you want guidance while learning how to dance or during a workout, this robotic system can also guide you through some moves, track your form, and provide tactile feedback about your performance. Extending this general concept to medical applications, your little buddy could be used in rehabilitation, as a motivator and progress monitor for doing exercises.

Wearable assistants without displays find it difficult to provide meaningful feedback to users. To overcome this problem, the R&D team proposed a way to physicalize data. This method allows the device to display your progress on a specific task by turning your arm into a physical progress bar. As you get closer to achieving your daily goals, the device will move farther on your arm.

One of the biggest challenges facing Calico right now is positioning: GPS isn’t precise enough to help you determine where the robot is on your clothing. The team tried to solve this problem by embedding neodymium magnets evenly spaced into the clothing tracks, which act as markers for the robot’s position and allow it to effectively plan its path across your body. It turns out to be a very effective system, as the robot never missed a mark during its development cycle.

According to the developers, in the future this little robot assistant can be personalized with accessories like fur and big eyes. This wearable robot will also have a purely "show off" application. Add some fur and googly eyes and having a furry friend hovering around you all the time will make you react. If you add sounds, LEDs or even a display, you have a guaranteed conversation starter.