2025 Stretch Robot Pitch Competition

The 2022 Stretch Robot Pitch Competition, sponsored by TechSAge RERC in collaboration with Hello Robot and AI-CARING, was hosted at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This competition sought innovative hardware or software solutions to support individuals aging with disabilities at home using the Stretch™ robot. Developed by Hello Robot, Stretch is an open source mobile manipulator with reaching, grasping, and sensing capabilities to support people with a wide range of tasks. AI-CARING is a collaborative research institute, which includes Georgia Tech, that is focused on developing the next generation of personalized, collaborative Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to support older adults and their network of care partners. Students submitted a brief proposal and pitch video that detailed their concept for Stretch and how it addressed a need for individuals aging with disabilities. Undergraduate students, representing a wide range of disciplines, submitted novel ideas for Stretch to support this population. An interdisciplinary panel of judges that included representatives from TechSAge, Hello Robot, and AI-CARING evaluated the submissions.

Read Full Story

1st Place

Chef Stretch

Team: Caitlin Woodward & Elizabeth Thompson (College of Engineering), Aditi Ashok (Scheller College of Business), Michelle Gu & Vedita Sawhney (College of Sciences)

Combining Stretch’s camera and manipulation capabilities with odor sensor technology, the ‘Chef Stretch’ concept aims to help individuals with disabilities detect food spoilage in their kitchen so they can access, prepare and consume food safely. The winning team is spending the Spring 2026 semester refining their concept and prototyping with Stretch in the Aware Home.

Prize: $1000

Michelle Gu, Aditi Ashok, Caitlin Woodward, Elizabeth Thompson & Vedita Sawhney pose alongside Stretch Robot holding 1st place certificate from 2025 Stretch Robot Pitch Competition.

Honorable Mention

Bimanual Clothes Manipulation and Assisted Dressing

Ali Vafaeian (College of Computing)

This project proposes a custom dual-gripper end-effector for the Stretch 3 robot that enables it to grasp and manipulate garments, like jackets, to support independent dressing for individuals with mobility impairments.

Prize: $500