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

Designing Social Robots for Early Detection of Mental Heath Conditions

Globally, mental health is a growing socio-economic burden and leads to negative ramifications including mortality and poor quality of life. Successful early detection of mental illness will make a significant, positive economic and societal impact. Social robots show potential to be integrated as tools for psychological therapy and early detection. This thesis seeks to design and develop social robots for early detection of mental illness. I explore how multi-modal inputs can be used to infer user's mental state and to direct appropriate robot behavior. I have employed an iterative design process for the design of robot morphology, personality, and behavior. Design 1 is a social robot with 6 DOF and exhibits non-verbal behaviors. In this design, I explore audio, video, and haptic inputs to detect user's emotional state. Design 2 is an interactive device that aims to collect audio data for the detection of early signs of depression. In this design, acoustic features are explored for depression detection, and the device uses audio and LEDs to communicate it's internal state. Finally, I have conducted a pilot experiment to investigate how the users interact with the robot. This thesis informs the design of future robots that aim to support early detection of mental illnesses

Enabling personalised medical support for chronic disease management through a hybrid robot-cloud approach

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How a Diverse Research Ecosystem Has Generated New Rehabilitation Technologies: Review of NIDILRR’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain. Within the US, a major effort aimed at the creation and evaluation of rehabilitation technology has been the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. As envisioned at their conception by a panel of the National Academy of Science in 1970, these centers were intended to take a “total approach to rehabilitation”, combining medicine, engineering, and related science, to improve the quality of life of individuals with a disability. Here, we review the scope, achievements, and ongoing projects of an unbiased sample of 19 currently active or recently terminated RERCs. Specifically, for each center, we briefly explain the needs it targets, summarize key historical advances, identify emerging innovations, and consider future directions. Our assessment from this review is that the RERC program indeed involves a multidisciplinary approach, with 36 professional fields involved, although 70% of research and development staff are in engineering fields, 23% in clinical fields, and only 7% in basic science fields; significantly, 11% of the professional staff have a disability related to their research. We observe that the RERC program has substantially diversified the scope of its work since the 1970’s, addressing more types of disabilities using more technologies, and, in particular, often now focusing on information technologies. RERC work also now often views users as integrated into an interdependent society through technologies that both people with and without disabilities co-use (such as the internet, wireless communication, and architecture). In addition, RERC research has evolved to view users as able at improving outcomes through learning, exercise, and plasticity (rather than being static), which can be optimally timed. We provide examples of rehabilitation technology innovation produced by the RERCs that illustrate this increasingly diversifying scope and evolving perspective. We conclude by discussing growth opportunities and possible future directions of the RERC program

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早大学位記番号:新9136早稲田大

Flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors for smart textiles

The development of smart textiles relies in many applications on of textile-integrated sensors. Flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors have many potential applications, for instance in sports science. In this study, flexible pressure sensors are built using piezoresistive polymer film and conductive fabric. Tests using a universal testing machine show that the sensors are functional, accurate, although showing some hysteresis. However, methods for joining the electrode and piezoresistive layers are necessary to assure mechanical stability of the sensor, without affecting electrical contact between layers. Several methods were tested and results are reported here. The use of thermofusible bonding nets and webs has been found to be an interesting solution.This work is financed by Project “Deus ex Machina”, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000026, funded by CCDRN, through Sistema de Apoio à Investigação Cientifica e Tecnológica (Projetos Estruturados I&D&I) of Programa Operacional Regional do Norte, from Portugal 2020 and by FEDER funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136. Derya Tama thanks FCT for fellowship 2C2T-BPD-08-2017.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Socially assistive robots for people with dementia: systematic review and meta-analysis of feasibility, acceptability and the effect on cognition, neuropsychiatric symptoms and quality of life

BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in using robots to support dementia care but little consensus on the evidence for their use. The aim of the study is to review evidence about feasibility, acceptability and clinical effectiveness of socially assistive robots used for people with dementia. METHOD: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINHAL, IEEE Xplore Digital Library, and EI Engineering Village from inception to 04 -02-2022 - included primary studies assessing feasibility, acceptability, or effectiveness of socially assistive robots for people with dementia. Two independent reviewers screened studies for eligibility, and assessed quality. Narrative synthesis prioritized higher quality studies, and random-effect meta-analyses compared robots with usual care (UC) or active control (AC) immediately after the intervention (short-term; ST) or long-term (LT) on cognition, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and quality of life. FINDINGS: 66 studies and four categories of robots were eligible: Companion robots (Pet and humanoid companion robots), telepresence communication robots, homecare assistive robots and multifunctional robots. PARO (companion robot seal) was feasible and acceptable but limited by its weight, cost, and sound. On meta-analysis, PARO had no ST or LT compared to UC or AC over 5-12 weeks on agitation (ST vs UC, 4 trials, 153 participants: pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.25; -0.57 to 0.06; LT vs UC; 2 trials, 77 participants, SMD =-0.24; -0.94, 0.46), cognition (ST vs UC, 3 trials, 128 participants: SMD= 0.03; -0.32, 0.38), overall neuropsychiatric symptoms (ST vs UC, 3 trials, 169 participants: SMD= -0.01; -0.32, 0.29; ST vs AC, 2 trials, 145 participants: SMD =0.02, -0.71, 0.85), apathy (ST vs AC, 2 trials, 81 participants: SMD= 0.14; 0.29, 0.58), depression (ST vs UC, 4 trials, 181 participants; SMD= 0.08; -0.52, 0.69; LT vs UC: 2 trials, 77 participants: SMD =0.01; -0.75, 0.77), anxiety (ST vs UC: 2 trials, 104 participants, SMD= 0.24; -0.85, 1.33) and quality of life (ST vs UC, 2 trials, 127 participants: SMD=-0.05; -0.52, 0.42; ST vs AC: 2 trials, 159 participants, SMD =-0.36, -0.76, 0.05). Robotic animals, humanoid companion robots, telepresence robots and multifunctional robots were feasible and acceptable. However, humanoid companion robots have speech recognition problems, and telepresence robots and multifunctional robots were often difficult to use. There was mixed evidence about the feasibility of homecare robots. There was little evidence on any of these robots' effectiveness. CONCLUSION: Although robots were generally feasible and acceptable, there is no clear evidence that people with dementia derive benefit from robots for cognition, neuropsychiatric symptoms, or quality of life. We recommend that future research should use high quality designs to establish evidence of effectiveness

Flexible force sensors for e-textiles

This paper presents the development of inexpensive, lightweight, flexible polymer-based piezoresistive sensors appropriate for integration in e-textiles. The transducing element used is a volume-conductive carbon impregnated black polypropylene/polyethylene film with commercial names Velostat (from 3M) or Linqstat (from Caplinq). The objective is to investigate on the influence of different sensor constructions, varying film thicknesses, electrode materials and encapsulations on sensor performance. Furthermore, ways of integrating the sensors into textile products, as well as potential applications are also studied. In this paper, the behaviour of the sensors under different cyclic compression loads, applied at different speeds, is presented. Sensors using three different electrode materials are tested. The results show significant influence of sensor construction and electrode material on the static and dynamic performance of the devices.This work is financed by Project “Deus ex Machina”, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000026, funded by CCDRN, through Sistema de Apoio à Investigação Cientifica e Tecnológica (Projetos Estruturados I&D&I) of Programa Operacional Regional do Norte, from Portugal 2020. Acknowledgements also to IAPMEI for funding under the program “Startup Voucher” 2017, project MAPS.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Human-centred design methods : developing scenarios for robot assisted play informed by user panels and field trials

Original article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/ Copyright ElsevierThis article describes the user-centred development of play scenarios for robot assisted play, as part of the multidisciplinary IROMEC1 project that develops a novel robotic toy for children with special needs. The project investigates how robotic toys can become social mediators, encouraging children with special needs to discover a range of play styles, from solitary to collaborative play (with peers, carers/teachers, parents, etc.). This article explains the developmental process of constructing relevant play scenarios for children with different special needs. Results are presented from consultation with panel of experts (therapists, teachers, parents) who advised on the play needs for the various target user groups and who helped investigate how robotic toys could be used as a play tool to assist in the children’s development. Examples from experimental investigations are provided which have informed the development of scenarios throughout the design process. We conclude by pointing out the potential benefit of this work to a variety of research projects and applications involving human–robot interactions.Peer reviewe