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Award Abstract # 2024950
NRI: FND: Assistive Child-Robot Interventions for Infants with Motor Disabilities

NSF Org: CMMI
Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation
Recipient: OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date: August 11, 2020
Latest Amendment Date: April 23, 2024
Award Number: 2024950
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Alex Leonessa
aleoness@nsf.gov
 (703)292-2633
CMMI
 Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation
ENG
 Directorate for Engineering
Start Date: October 1, 2020
End Date: March 31, 2025 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $698,063.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $820,154.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2020 = $698,063.00
FY 2021 = $8,000.00

FY 2022 = $16,000.00

FY 2023 = $16,000.00

FY 2024 = $82,091.00
History of Investigator:
  • Naomi Fitter (Principal Investigator)
    fittern@oregonstate.edu
  • Geoffrey Hollinger (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Samuel Logan (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Oregon State University
1500 SW JEFFERSON AVE
CORVALLIS
OR  US  97331-8655
(541)737-4933
Sponsor Congressional District: 04
Primary Place of Performance: Oregon State University
Corvallis
OR  US  97331-2140
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
04
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): MZ4DYXE1SL98
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): SSA-Special Studies & Analysis,
FRR-Foundationl Rsrch Robotics,
NRI-National Robotics Initiati
Primary Program Source: 01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 116E, 137Z, 7632, 8086, 9102, 9178, 9231, 9251
Program Element Code(s): 138500, 144Y00, 801300
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.041

ABSTRACT

This National Robotics Initiative (NRI 2.0) project will conduct fundamental research on novel robot-mediated physical therapy interventions encouraging desired motor behaviors in infants with developmental delays. About 7% of children in the US experience developmental disabilities that impact sensorimotor, social, and cognitive functioning. Because these functions are closely interrelated, children may benefit broadly from early motion interventions, such as body-weight-supported locomotion, designed to encourage motor exploration and practice. This project will employ iterative design techniques to develop and then test an intelligent mobile robot capable of learning how best to elicit desired motor behaviors in body-weight-supported infants. The project will advance the progress of science and advance the national health by developing novel hardware and algorithms that will advance the ability of assistive robots to personalize therapeutic interventions for infants with developmental delays. Additional broader impacts include education and outreach activities engaging women and underrepresented minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

This project will develop and assess a novel mobile robot system that engages infants with developmental delays in play activities that encourage desired sensorimotor functioning. The proposed work is organized into three "thrusts": (1) iteratively designing an appropriate and robust co-robot, (2) establishing an adaptive "behavior-planning" framework for implementing intelligent robot-mediated engagement strategies, and (3) performing human subject experiments to evaluate the framework and assess the robotic system?s potential to assist in physical therapy interventions. This project will yield algorithms that can personalize sensorimotor interactions to individual infant needs. The project will compare the physical and social behaviors of children participating in motor interventions with and without an assistive robot. This project will yield the hardware and computational framework for future randomized controlled trials and long-term studies of the robotic system in natural environments of interest, such as in clinics and homes.

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.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Helmi, Ameer and Koenig, Kristen M. and Fitter, Naomi T. "A Model Child? Behavior Models for Simulated Infant-Robot Interaction" International Conference on Social Robotics , 2023 Citation Details
Helmi, Ameer and Noregaard, Samantha and Giulietti, Natasha and Logan, Samuel W. and Fitter, Naomi T. "Let Them Have Bubbles! Filling Gaps in Toy-Like Behaviors for Child-Robot Interaction" IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1109/ICRA46639.2022.9812031 Citation Details
Helmi, Ameer and Wang, Tze-Hsuan and Logan, Samuel W and Fitter, Naomi T "Harnessing the Power of Movement: A Body-Weight Support System & Assistive Robot Case Study" , 2023 https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR58425.2023.10304811 Citation Details
Mayoral, Rafael Morales and Helmi, Ameer and Logan, Samuel W and Fitter, Naomi T "GoBot Go! Using a Custom Assistive Robot to Promote Physical Activity in Children" IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine , v.12 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1109/JTEHM.2024.3446511 Citation Details
Mayoral, Rafael Morales and Helmi, Ameer and Warren, Shel-Twon and Logan, Samuel W and Fitter, Naomi T "Robottheory Fitness: GoBot's Engagement Edge for Spurring Physical Activity in Young Children" , 2023 https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS55552.2023.10341442 Citation Details
Raja Vora, Joseline and Helmi, Ameer and Zhan, Christine and Olivares, Eliora and Vu, Tina and Wilkey, Marie and Noregaard, Samantha and Fitter, Naomi T. and Logan, Samuel W. "Influence of a Socially Assistive Robot on Physical Activity, Social Play Behavior, and Toy-Use Behaviors of Children in a Free Play Environment: A Within-Subjects Study" Frontiers in Robotics and AI , v.8 , 2021 https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2021.768642 Citation Details
Vinoo, Ashwin and Case, Layne and Zott, Gabriela R. and Vora, Joseline Raja and Helmi, Ameer and Logan, Samuel W. and Fitter, Naomi T. "Design of an Assistive Robot for Infant Mobility Interventions" 2021 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot & Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) , 2021 https://doi.org/10.1109/RO-MAN50785.2021.9515415 Citation Details

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