{"id":78571,"date":"2026-08-17T14:42:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T21:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=78571"},"modified":"2026-08-17T14:42:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T21:42:47","slug":"truitt-grfp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/truitt-grfp\/","title":{"rendered":"The robotic arm of the future starts at NAU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jackson Truitt<\/span><\/b>\u00a0started his research early\u00a0and organically.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now a Ph.D. student working on building a robotic arm to help children with cerebral palsy be more\u00a0independent,\u00a0his passion for the work started when he was growing up. His brother had muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy, so\u00a0Truitt\u00a0saw\u00a0firsthand\u00a0how people\u2019s lives\u00a0were\u00a0affected and the challenges they\u00a0faced\u00a0with\u00a0these conditions.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When it came time to\u00a0pick\u00a0a\u00a0career, designing mobility devices for people with movement-based disorders\u00a0was an easy choice.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy experience growing up with my brother and caring for children with neuromuscular disorders fostered a deep love of serving and working with children with these conditions,\u201d Truitt said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u00a0was\u00a0one of five NAU students selected\u00a0this year\u00a0for the National Science Foundation\u2019s Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which provides research funding for three years.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a highly sought after award that gives students greater autonomy in their research\u00a0and is allowing Truitt to take his upper mobility device\u2014it\u2019s\u00a0not actually an arm;\u00a0it supports the\u00a0wearer\u2019s\u00a0arm\u2014to the development and testing phase.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJackson is a remarkably talented and creative robotics engineer with a deep motivation for designing solutions to\u00a0assist\u00a0people with disabilities,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Zach Lerner<\/span><\/b>,\u00a0associate professor in the\u00a0<\/span>Department of Mechanical Engineering<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and director of\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>Biomechantronics\u00a0Lab<\/span><\/a>\u00a0at NAU. \u201cWe are absolutely thrilled to have someone of his caliber in our lab.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Truitt\u2019s\u00a0research<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

In his first year in the\u00a0Biomechatronics\u00a0Lab, Truitt worked on\u00a0an\u00a0exoskeleton development and design project, primarily a novel hip exoskeleton. With GRFP funding, he can shift to\u00a0his\u00a0own\u00a0project: a\u00a0mobile robotic device that children with CP wear\u00a0that will help\u00a0them develop\u00a0better\u00a0range of motion, move their arms more naturally and become more independent.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The mobility device, which Truitt wants to be able to predict a user\u2019s movement as well as support those movements, will allow users to move their arm up and down and side to side more quickly and naturally,\u00a0which is important for daily tasks like eating, getting dressed and reaching for objects. It also will compensate for the effects of gravity\u00a0to reduce fatigue as the user moves.\u00a0And it will be wearable, meaning small and agile enough that a child can wear it while moving around.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jackson<\/a>\u201cThe participant will train the\u00a0device\u00a0with these tasks, then repeat to determine if the\u00a0device\u00a0can correctly predict the user\u2019s intention and\u00a0assist in their\u00a0desired\u00a0movements,\u201d Truitt said. \u201cThe overall goal is to develop and validate a novel upper extremity robotic arm device to aid children with cerebral palsy and expand the understanding of how these devices can improve\u00a0and promote\u00a0independence in children with these conditions.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His background<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Truitt came to NAU with the goal of helping children.\u00a0While earning a bachelor\u2019s degree at Wichita State University, Truitt led eight interdisciplinary teams in the Go Baby Go program, which builds custom ride-on electric cars for children with movement disorders. He also earned a certificate in assistive technology and accessible design.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, Truitt worked with a\u00a0WSU\u00a0professor to develop an augmentative and alternative communication device to help\u00a0children\u00a0with cerebral palsy\u00a0communicate with their\u00a0families\u00a0and peers.\u00a0And, outside of the classroom, he worked as a respite care provider for children with disabilities, including a child with cerebral palsy, and he volunteered at camps working with children with neuromuscular disorders.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBy investigating how upper extremity exoskeletons can increase mobility and range of motion for these individuals, my research will open the door to a new category of rehabilitation in the emerging field of wearable robotics technologies,\u201d he said. \u201cThis research will not only broaden the greater scientific understanding of the implementation of wearable robotics, but it will also have an ongoing impact on the future outcomes for individuals with neuromuscular disorders in our society.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read about NAU’s other GRFP winners:<\/p>\n