Collaborative Research: EAGER: Technology-Assisted Accessible Clothing: Soft Robotic Interaction Technologies and an Assessment Framework for Clothing Accessibility

本研究将探讨使用极简的、基于服装的辅助软机器人技术来量化、评估和改善日常服装的物理可及性的策略。为此，一项合作努力汇集了服装设计、软机器人、人机交互/人为因素和康复方面的专家，以探索无障碍设计和基于服装的机器人技术方面的开放性问题。该项目将为一项大规模研究奠定基础，以追求一种普遍可穿戴的服装的未来，这种服装无缝地融合了日常服装和软机器人，并适应各种能力、限制、需求和目标的用户。项目成果最终将带来新的方法来评估和机器人定制/支持各种可穿戴系统的身体-服装接口，从日常服装到机器人外骨骼到矫形器/假肢。项目目标将通过两个具体的重点来实现：(1)制定一套通用的用户确定的评价标准/指标，以评估服装的可及性；(2)设计并实现一种自紧/紧固“机器人腰带”，作为软机器人“服装”的概念验证原型，以建立该方法的可行性和变革潜力的初步证据。新的服装可达性评估指标和软机器人技术概念验证相结合，将为开发和部署几种基于服装的软机器人可达性解决方案奠定基础，并与现有的被动可达性解决方案相比，评估它们在改善日常服装可达性方面的影响。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。

This research will investigate strategies to quantify, evaluate, and improve physical accessibility of everyday clothing using minimalistic, garment-based assistive soft robotics. To this end, a collaborative effort brings together experts in apparel design, soft robotics, human-computer interaction/human factors, and rehabilitation to explore open questions both in design for accessibility and in garment-based robotics. The project will lay the groundwork for a large-scale study to pursue a future of universally accessible clothing that seamlessly blends everyday garments and soft robotics, and which accommodates users with a variety of abilities, limitations, needs, and objectives. Project outcomes will ultimately lead to new approaches to both evaluate and robotically customize/support body-garment interfaces for a wide range of wearable systems, from everyday clothing to robotic exoskeletons to orthoses/prostheses. Project goals will be pursued through two specific thrusts: (1) Formulate a set of generalizable user-identified evaluation criteria / metrics for assessing accessibility of garments; (2) Design and implement a self-tightening / fastening "robotic belt" as a proof-of-concept prototype of a soft robotic "garment" to establish preliminary evidence of the feasibility and transformative potential of the approach. The novel garment accessibility evaluation metrics and soft-robotic technology proof-of-concept combined will set the stage for the development and deployment o several garment-based soft-robotic accessibility solutions and evaluation of their impact at improving accessibility of everyday clothing compared to existing passive accessibility solutions.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.