A robotic arm is now able to help people with electric motor impairment perform physical responsibilities better
An Indian Institute of Science (IISc) research team has designed a robotic arm which can be manipulated by eye movement using a computer interface, to help people with Severe Speech and Motor Impairment (SSMI).
This interface is non-invasive because it is through a webcam and a computer, unlike other eye gaze-tracking devices that use head-mounted systems, according to Bengaluru-based IISc.
Persons with SSMI find it hard to physically operate devices for instance a joystick, mouse or trackball, or work with speech recognition systems, it was noted.
Eye gaze-controlled computer interfaces can help them perform various tasks on par with their non-disabled peers. To help persons with SSMI (a condition caused by disorders like cerebral palsy), a study team at the Center for Product Style and Developing (CPDM), IISc, caused young adult students who have SSMI at Vidya Sagar (formerly The Spastics Contemporary society of India) in Chennai, an institution for individuals with disabilities.
“Many of these students [with cerebral palsy] are not able to precisely focus at an individual point within their visual field, due to uncontrolled gaze movement.
They are also uncomfortable to check out all portions of the visual field equally,” says project lead Pradipta Biswas, Assistant Professor at CPDM.
Biswas and his workforce used computer eyesight and equipment learning algorithms to analyse live feeds of facial training video from the users, and were able to estimate where in fact the user was looking.
They coupled this with an Augmented Reality application to allow the user to employ a robotic arm for responsibilities like picking right up and dropping objects, and putting them where they really want, as much time as it was at your fingertips of the robotic arm, according to an IISc affirmation.
One of the key applications of the eye gaze-controlled robotic arm is rehabilitation of adults with SSMI, through jobs such as for example fabric printing.
They often require assistance in doing such jobs, because they can only conduct a tiny part of it independently. Using the robotic arm designed by the researchers, persons with SSMI may use their vision gaze to perform mechanical tasks that will help them work on handicrafts independently, it stated. This eye gaze-controlled user interface features been deployed at Vidya Sagar and is usually in regular use.
“This validation and analysis [of the interface and robotic arm] with customers is a major contribution of the analysis,” says Biswas.
The students with SSMI will be able to utilize the robotic manipulator almost together with their non-disabled counterparts, and the effects were the same during repeated trials. This technology can even be used by younger people with SSMI, to go toys like cars.
“We are using take up as a medium to instruct new technologies, which they can make use of for the others of their lives,” adds Biswas. Further alterations to this tool could also allow young people with SSMI to make utilization of it for e-learning.
The authors assume that this interface is a step towards creating future technologies which ensure that physical impairments usually do not stand in the form of pedagogical training and professional lives of people with SSMI. Biswas as well says that such something could be useful for motor vehicle and aeronautical applications, as well as for producing collaborative robots found in smart manufacturing.
