I-Corps: Wheelchair Mounted Robotic Assistive Arm

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是确定客户需求并开发一种最低可行的机器人辅助设备，使残疾人能够照顾自己，提高他们的行动能力，独立性和生活质量，同时减轻他们的家庭和社区的负担。通过适应性运动俱乐部和临床设施，有机会启动家庭护理设备市场。2015年，全球老年人和残疾人辅助设备市场价值140亿美元，预计到2024年将超过260亿美元。该项目的成果将进一步帮助研究人员、教育工作者和临床医生发现新的方法/技术，以满足客户尚未满足的需求。这个I-Corps项目将为一名工程本科学生（共同创业领导）和一名研究生（创业领导）提供有关客户发现过程的实践培训和经验。PI还将接触客户发现过程，并将从本课程中学到的知识纳入其研究实验室和工程高级设计课程中正在进行的和未来的项目中。项目活动与教育活动密切相关，这些活动将向不同层次的学生讲授客户发现过程、创业精神、假设检验等。这个I-Corps项目将促进对不同情况的上/下肢残疾人士的问题和需求的理解。该项目的智力价值在于围绕所提议的技术开发可持续的商业模式画布，以及所提议的机器人辅助臂（R2A）的新颖设计和开发。我们设想的R2A是一个7度自由的拟人化机器人手，可以安装在轮椅或任何移动平台上。根据病人的情况，可以用手/脚/嘴来控制。年代的需要。这将允许病人，不管残疾，控制机器人。迄今为止进行的基础研究包括开发上肢机器人外骨骼，以提供手臂运动治疗。这个I-Corps项目将发现客户未满足的需求与目前用于满足其需求的方法/技术之间的差距。项目活动将团结不同的客户？问题、需求和现有解决方案；并形成一种共生关系，克服推进辅助机器人领域的关键障碍。总的来说，拟议的项目将显著推进机器人设备如何有意义和有效地用于护理和康复的知识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to identify the customer needs and develop a minimum viable robotic assistive device that will enable disabled individuals to care for themselves, improve their mobility, independence and quality of life while reducing the burden on their families and communities. There is opportunity for launching a homecare equipment market through the adaptive sports clubs and the clinical facilities. The elderly and disabled assistive devices global market was valued at $14 billion in 2015 and is expected to surpass $26 billion by 2024. The outcome of the project will further help researchers, educators, and clinicians to discover new approaches/technology to satisfy unmet needs of customers. This I-Corps project will provide hands on training and experience for an engineering undergraduate student (co-entrepreneurial lead) and graduate student (entrepreneurial lead) on the customer discovery process. The PI will also gain exposure to the customer discovery process, and will incorporate the learnings from this course in ongoing and future projects within his research lab and engineering senior design classes. The project activities are intimately linked to educational activities that will teach students at various levels about the customer discovery process, entrepreneurship, hypothesis testing, etc. This I-Corps project will advance understanding of the problems and needs of disabled individuals with upper/lower extremity impairments from different conditions. The intellectual merit of the project lies in the development of a sustainable business model canvas around the proposed technology and in the novel design and development of the proposed robotic assistive arm (R2A). The R2A that we envision is a 7 degrees of freedom anthropomorphic robotic hand that can be mounted on a wheelchair or any mobile platform. It can be controlled either by hand/foot/mouth control depending on the patient?s needs. This will allow the patient, regardless of the disability, to control the robot. The fundamental research conducted so far includes development of an upper-extremity robotic exoskeleton to provide arm movement therapy. This I-Corps project will find the gaps between the customer unmet needs and the approaches/technology currently being used to satisfy their needs. The project activities will unite different customers? problems, needs, and existing solutions; and form a symbiotic relationship to overcome the critical barrier to advancing the field of assistive robotics. Overall, the proposed project will significantly advance the knowledge of how robotic devices can meaningfully and effectively be used in caregiving and rehabilitation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.