Rockabye Inflatable Blanket.

A soft-robotics baby blanket using pneumatic air pouches to rock infants — lightweight, foldable, and safe by design.

Soft RoboticsPneumatics ArduinoControl Systems 2025 · UC Berkeley

Team

Krishnaa Sudhir Nuha Akhtar Wangari Mbuthia Isabel Morales

The Problem

Babies need rocking. Caregivers need sleep.

Rhythmic rocking calms infants and supports sleep — but it requires continuous human involvement. Existing automated cradles solve this mechanically, but they're heavy, expensive, and impossible to travel with. There's a real gap for something foldable and affordable.

The Solution

Two air pockets, one rocking motion.

The Rockabye Blanket replaces rigid motors with pneumatic vinyl pouches sewn into a cotton blanket. When a baby is placed in the centre, the pouches inflate and deflate in alternating cycles, gently rocking from side to side. It folds flat when off, and the soft approach means there are no pinch points near the baby.

My Role

What I built.

My focus was on the control system — the logic that makes the blanket rock. I coded the full timing cycle in Arduino: when each pump activates, when the solenoid valve releases air, and how the two sides interleave to create smooth back-and-forth motion.

The code uses millis() for non-blocking timing, so both chambers cycle through inflation and deflation at staggered intervals without locking up other inputs. I also integrated the emergency stop button so rocking can be cut off at any moment.

Arduino · control loop Open-loop timing Pneumatics MOSFET circuit integration Solenoid valve control

My contributions

Developed the full rocking control loop — timing the inflation/deflation cycle for both pouches with staggered offsets
Integrated pump and solenoid valve control with the MOSFET-based electronics circuit
Implemented emergency stop button to safely terminate any rocking cycle
Tested the full system with a weighted baby doll to validate rocking motion and safety

Electronics

Inside the system.

Project poster — overview of the full system

Circuit design — Arduino Uno, air pumps and solenoid valves via MOSFETs

Rockabye Inflatable Blanket.

Babies need rocking. Caregivers need sleep.

Two air pockets, one rocking motion.

What I built.

Inside the system.

Let's collaborate.