Toward a practical mobile robotic aid system for people with severe physical disabilities.
A simple, relatively inexpensive robotic system that can aid severely disabled persons by providing pick-and-place manipulative abilities to augment the functions of human or trained animal assistants is under development at Rice University and the Baylor College of Medicine. A stand-alone software application program runs on a Macintosh personal computer and provides the user with a selection of interactive windows for commanding the mobile robot via cursor action. A HERO 2000 robot has been modified such that its workspace extends from the floor to tabletop heights, and the robot is interfaced to a Macintosh SE via a wireless communications link for untethered operation. Integrated into the system are hardware and software which allow the user to control household appliances in addition to the robot. A separate Machine Control Interface device converts breath action and head or other three-dimensional motion inputs into cursor signals. Preliminary in-home and laboratory testing has demonstrated the utility of the system to perform useful navigational and manipulative tasks.
Regalbuto
M A
MA
Adept Technology, San Jose, CA 94086.
Krouskop
T A
TA
Cheatham
J B
JB
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008838:Microcomputers; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012984:Software