Jaco
Assistive robotic arm for limited upper-limb mobility
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Jaco is an assistive robotic arm made by Kinova that helps people with limited upper-limb mobility regain autonomy in daily life. It is a lightweight manipulator composed of six inter-linked segments ending in a multi-finger gripper, and it can be mounted on almost any power wheelchair and controlled through the chair's joystick, head control, sip-and-puff and other interfaces. Kinova positions it as a tool for everyday tasks such as eating, drinking, personal hygiene, medication management, work and leisure.
RoboZaps evaluation note
Buyer-side view of Jaco
RoboZaps reviews Jaco as part of a broader robot shortlist, not as a single-vendor pitch. Buyers should compare availability, deployment maturity, support terms, integration work, and total cost before committing.
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- Availability
- announced
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- Verify local training, maintenance, parts, and uptime terms.
Best fit
Teams that need to compare Jaco against otherrobotic arms options with deployment readiness, commercial terms, and support assumptions made explicit.
Not best fit
Buyers who need a guaranteed off-the-shelf deployment before confirming current availability, integrator coverage, site readiness, and post-sale support ownership.
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Overview
Jaco is an assistive robotic arm developed by Kinova, a Canadian robotics company based in Boisbriand, Québec that has worked on assistive manipulators since its founding. The arm is designed for people with limited upper-limb mobility, including individuals affected by conditions such as muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, ALS and cerebral palsy, giving them greater autonomy and reducing reliance on caregivers.
The robot is a lightweight manipulator composed of several inter-linked segments ending in a gripper, mounted on a power wheelchair so the user can move it through three-dimensional space and grasp or release objects. It draws power directly from the wheelchair battery and is built from lightweight carbon-fibre links with aluminum actuators, keeping it compact and low-profile.
Jaco can be operated through a wide range of interfaces, including the wheelchair joystick, head controls and sip-and-puff systems, making it adaptable to each user's abilities. Kinova frames it as a way to make everyday activities of daily living feel easier and to open up new possibilities for independence.
Key Features
- Mounts on almost any power wheelchair and is controlled via the chair's joystick, head control, sip-and-puff or other interfaces
- Lightweight carbon-fibre construction with aluminum actuators for a compact, low-profile arm
- Six-axis movement mimicking shoulder, elbow and wrist motion for human-like reach and grasping
- Powered directly from the wheelchair battery for energy-efficient daily use
- Designed to assist with eating, drinking, personal hygiene, medication management, work, school and leisure
Videos
Specifications
Environment
| IP Rating | PX2 |
Mechanics
| Degrees of Freedom | 6 |
| Locomotion | Stationary |
Performance
| Max Speed | 20 m/s |
| Payload Capacity | 1.5 kg |
| Reach | 900 mm |
| Repeatability | 0.5 mm |
Physical
| Weight | 4.4 kg |
Software
| SDK Support | Yes |
| ROS Compatible | Yes |
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