Design and Implementation of a Haptic-Based Robotic System with Virtual Assistance for Children with Disabilities

• Author / Creator

  Jafari, Nooshin

• BACKGROUND: Limited opportunities for haptic manipulation and motor experience in children with disabilities is linked to developmental delays including cognitive, perceptual, and social impairments. Assistive robots (e.g. Lego robots) have been used as alternative means to remotely act on the environment. Yet, there are critical limitations in provision of direct assisted manipulation. Firstly, typical assistive robot interfaces (e.g. head mounted switches) remotely control the robot in the environment, and thus, fail to simulate the critical aspect of haptic manipulation in transferring the objects’ touch-related information. Second, a human helper oftentimes mediates the child’s interaction with the environment, obstructing direct interaction with the environment and reducing the child’s sense of independence and task control. The functionality of assistive technologies in delivering a haptic-based direct (unmediated human) manipulation experience, particularly in the context of play, has remained unexplored. This suggests the need for research on development of a robotic-based medium capable of simulating direct haptic manipulation and provision of unmediated human assistance. OBJECTIVE: This thesis work is the result of a literature review, a feasibility study and two usability studies in order to address the following objectives: 1) Determine the researched application areas of haptic-based assistive technology for people with disabilities, and determine their implications for children with disabilities. 2) Develop the initial technical requirements for simulation of direct haptic-based manipulation and critically analyze the appropriate choice of candidate robot interfaces for the requirements for the user and task. 3) Identify the technical feasibility to develop and implement a robotic system with virtual (unmediated human) assistance in a manipulative play task. 4) Clinically validate the effectiveness of the developed technology in accommodating manual skills of individuals with disabilities and compare the outcomes of the robot augmented performance with a typical assistive technology computer interface approach. METHODS: The objectives were addressed as follows: 1) A literature review was undertaken to establish a retrospective insight into research on assistive robotics for people with disabilities with the focus on manual performance. The potential ideas and challenges for implications of the technology for children with disabilities were identified. 2) Simulation of haptic-based direct manipulation was performed through development of a teleoperation system (dual-robot configuration) featured with haptic feedback. Haptic feedback was tested through a teleoperated drawing task. Technical feasibility was established to determine the choice of robots appropriate for requirements of the user and task. 3) Robotic-based virtual assistance was developed and integrated into a single-robot configuration system. Two protocols were designed to validate the system through a usability study with 15 abled-bodied adults. First, an exploration task was performed to evaluate the safety, stability and perceptibility of the virtual assistance. Next, adults performed a set of functional play tasks, i.e. coloring, with and without virtual assistance in order to validate the effectiveness of assistance. Data derived from the robotic system, survey questions and robot usability questionnaires were collected and analyzed. 4) Clinical validation of the system occurred through a single-subject case study with an individual living with cerebral palsy. The individual participated in the same set of coloring tasks using the robotic system as well as her typical computer interface. A comparison of the approaches was performed. RESULTS: The most researched application areas of haptic robotic systems and their implications for use by children were identified and represented through the retrospective review of the literature The technical feasibility testing provided the initial set up for the haptic-based manipulation and technical requirements for the user-side and task-side robots in the teleoperation system configuration. Through the usability study with abled-bodied adults, the validity of the technical implementation was confirmed in terms of the system’s safety and stability, and performance. Participants performed significantly better in the coloring tasks when virtual assistance was provided. Both medium and maximum levels of assistance significantly outperformed the unassisted condition and led to relatively the same performance improvements. The study with the individual with cerebral palsy confirmed the effectiveness of the system in leveraging her manual capabilities in a functional manipulative task requiring coordination and fine motor skills. Her typical approach using the computer interface showed considerably less effectiveness compared to the robotic-based approach with assistance in performing the tasks.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Robotic system
  • Virtual assistance
  • Children with disabilites
  • Assistive technology
  • Haptic interface

• Graduation date

  Spring 2017

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3X05XV4F

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.