SBIR Phase I: Open hardware and software platform to enable configuration and control of IoT devices for people with disabilities

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是改善残疾人进入不断增长的物联网(IoT)技术生态系统的机会，从而提高他们独立、与他人联系、寻求和保留教育和就业的能力，并在经济和社会方面做出贡献。特别是，近2000万美国公民患有影响上肢运动的残疾，从而影响了他们配置和控制家庭周围设备的能力。该项目旨在开发一个开放平台，允许这些消费者使用辅助输入控件(如自适应操纵杆、吹气输入、下巴切换或眼睛凝视)以及现成的消费者输入设备(如触摸板或麦克风)来定制对其家庭设备的控制。拟议的项目将通过支持物联网应用的最终用户可编程性，使最终用户(非程序员)能够修改、控制其设备和服务并使其自动化，从而推动消费者物联网环境的发展。我们的系统将采用新获得专利的设备控制体系结构，具有新颖的可定制性和对非程序员的直观访问。平台支持的用例以前需要工程师花费数天或数周的专门时间为用户构建定制解决方案；相反，平台将向非技术用户提供这些用例，而不需要定制工程。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/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to improve the access of people with disabilities to the growing ecosystem of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, thus improving their ability to be independent, connect with others, seek and retain education and employment, and contribute to society both economically and socially. In particular, nearly 20 million US citizens live with disabilities affecting upper limb movement, thus impacting their ability to configure and control devices around the home. This project aims to develop an open platform that allows these consumers customized control of their home devices, using assistive input controls such as adaptive joysticks, sip-and-puff inputs, chin switches, or eye gaze, as well as off-the-shelf consumer input devices such as trackpads or mice.The proposed project would advance the consumer Internet of Things (IoT) landscape by enabling end user programmability for IoT applications, giving end users (non-programmers) the ability to modify, control, and automate their devices and services. Our system will draw on a newly patented device control architecture with novel customizability and intuitive access to non-programmers. The use cases supported by the platform would previously have required engineers to spend days or weeks of dedicated time building custom solutions for users; instead, the platform will make these use cases available to non-technical users on a wide scale without requiring custom engineering.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.