I-Corps: Wheelchair Mounted Robotic Assistive Arm

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是确定客户需求，开发最低限度可行的机器人辅助设备，使残疾人能够照顾自己，改善他们的行动能力、独立性和生活质量，同时减轻他们家庭和社区的负担。有机会通过适应性强的体育俱乐部和临床设施推出家庭护理设备市场。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，以满足客户未得到满足的需求。这个i-Corps项目将为工程本科生(联合创业主管)和研究生(创业主管)提供关于客户发现过程的实践培训和经验。PI还将接触到客户发现过程，并将从本课程中学到的知识融入到他的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传授客户发现过程、创业精神、假设检验等方面的知识。这个i-Corps项目将促进对不同情况下患有上肢/下肢残疾的残疾人的问题和需求的了解。该项目的智力价值在于围绕拟议的技术开发了可持续的商业模式画布，以及拟议的机器人辅助臂(R2A)的新颖设计和开发。我们设想的R2a是一只7自由度的拟人化机器人手，可以安装在轮椅或任何移动平台上。根据患者的需要，可以通过手/脚/口控制。S需要。这将允许患者无论残疾程度如何，都可以控制机器人。到目前为止进行的基础研究包括开发一种提供手臂运动治疗的上肢机器人外骨骼。这个i-Corps项目将发现客户未得到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。项目活动会不会团结不同的客户？问题、需求和现有解决方案；并形成共生关系，以克服推进辅助机器人领域的关键障碍。总体而言，拟议的项目将显著提高关于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NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.