Overcoming barriers and increasing independence: service robots for elderly and disabled people

This paper discusses the potential for service robots to overcome barriers and increase independence of elderly and disabled people. It includes a brief overview of the existing uses of service robots by disabled and elderly people and advances in technology which will make new uses possible and provides suggestions for some of these new applications. The paper also considers the design and other conditions to be met for user acceptance. It also discusses the complementarity of assistive service robots and personal assistance and considers the types of applications and users for which service robots are and are not suitable

The Middlesex University rehabilitation robot

This paper outlines the historical developments of Wheelchair-Mounted Robot Arms (WMRA's) and then focuses on the ongoing research at Middlesex to develop a low-cost aid to daily living for users with high-level quadriplegia. A detailed review is given explaining the design specification. It describes the construction of the robotic device and its control architecture. The prototype robot used several gesture recognition and other input systems. The prototype has been tested on disabled and non-disabled users with positive feedback. They observed that it was easy to use, but issues about speed of operation were resolved after further development. The robot has a payload of greater than 1kg with a maximum reach of 0.7–0.9m. Published by the Taylor & Francis Publishing Group, this publication is one of the only journals to cover the multi-disciplinary area of medical technology research. Currently, research bids are being formulated with the School of Computing Science to continue this research

The Method of Commands Identification to Voice Control of the Electric Wheelchair

The paper shows the relevance of the task of improving the electric wheelchair control system for patients with lost or functionally limited upper limbs. A method of indirect control using voice commands is proposed. At the same time, the biometric principle is used, according to which, in the process of voice signal analysis, signs that are biometric parameters of the patient's speech are identified to prevent the operation of the control system when registering similar commands from outsiders. The main such sign is the value of the main tone frequency. To process voice signals in order to identify the four main control commands, namely forward, backward, left and right, the sliding window method is used, within which the presence of signs of the main tone is evaluated. For a specific person, this value will be individual and present only in those parts of the voice signal that correspond to vowels and consonant vocalized sounds. In this way, it is possible to segment the voice signal into such areas and identify individual voice commands based on pre-set durations of these areas. A threshold function is also used for this, which takes a certain value when the main tone frequency is present in the voice signal structure within each implementation of the sliding window and is equal to zero when there are no signs of this frequency. At the same time, it became possible to identify individual commands with higher accuracy.Abstract; 1. Introduction; 2. Materials and Methods; 3. Experiment and Results; 4. Conclusion; 5. References

THE DISABLED SOLDIER: A CASE FOR DISABLED AMERICANS IN THE U.S. ARMED SERVICES

Despite the rising demands and functions of non-kinetic warfare, the military bars most disabled Americans from entry. Artificial intelligence, complex decision-making, and fifth-generation-warfare elements stress a multidimensional force and cognitive skills over dominant kinetic traits. This thesis investigates the feasibility requirements, national security implications, and benefits to the Department of Defense of expanding active military service to disabled Americans. After reviewing U.S. and international integration of disabled persons, the defined needs and skills for emerging warfare, academic studies of disabled talents, and military policy, this thesis reveals the feasibility of inclusion. Recommendations include mainstreaming persons with disabilities within the existing military model, making changes to defense policy, establishing a pilot program or corps, and undertaking future research.Civilian, Department of Homeland SecurityApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Multimodal interface for an intelligent wheelchair

Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores (Major Automação). Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200

Architectures of Cloud-enabled Cyber Physical Systems — a Systematic Mapping Study

Cloud-enabled Cyber Physical Systems (CCPS) combine embedded systems with highly scalable cloud services. Such systems provide opportunities to offload computing or data analytics tasks which require more resources than an embedded device can offer. The development of a CCPS involves multiple stakeholders as well as engineers and developers from different disciplines, which makes the description and communication of the system architecture a challenging task. Additionally, the architecture design of CCPS has the inherent challenge to determine which functionality should be placed on the device, in the cloud, or on a possible fog/edge device within or close to the system. This systematic mapping study evaluates how CCPS architectures are discussed in the current literature and which topics are associated with cloud computing in CCPS architectures. The results show a significant increase in CCPS publications over the last years, a focus on a specific architectural viewpoint and application areas, and a potential misalignment with the common understanding of cloud computing as a paradigm