This research addresses rural water scarcity in Colombia by developing a household treatment system combining filtration and solar disinfection. Using engineering models, it optimizes flow, pathogen inactivation, and sunlight exposure to ensure reliability. The approach delivers safe, simple, and sustainable water access, reducing disease and improving quality of life in underserved communities.

This thesis introduces Armando, a low-cost soft robotic gripper with proprioceptive sensing using a single flexible capacitive sensor and neural-network decoding. Achieving 99% accuracy, Armando enables precise finger-position estimation for applications in prosthetics, assistive care, and disaster response, advancing accessible tactile robotics inspired by human touch.