Researchers develop head-worn device to control mobile controllers

More than five million people in the United States live with some form of paralysis and may have trouble completing everyday tasks, such as getting a glass of water or getting dressed. New research from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute (RI) aims to increase autonomy for people with such mobility impairments by introducing a head-worn device that helps them control a controller. mobile controller.

Remotely controlled mobile controllers can assist individuals to complete daily activitiesbut many existing technologies such as hand-operated joysticks or web interfaces require the user to have considerable fine motor skills to operate them effectively.

Research led by Dr. robotics. student Akhil Padmanabha offers a new device equipped with a hands-free microphone and a head-worn sensor that allows the user to control the mobile robot through head movement and voice recognition. Head-mounted assisted telemetry (HAT) operation requires less fine motor skills than other interfaces, providing an alternative for users who have difficulty with existing technology on the market.

In addition to Padmanabha, the research team included Qin Wang, Daphne Han, Jashkumar Diyora, Kriti Kacker, Hamza Khalid, Liang-Jung Chen, Carmel Majidi and Zackory Erickson. In a human study, participants both with and without engine disabilities perform many household and self-care tasks with low error rates, minimal effort, and highly perceived ease of use.

The team will present their paper, “HAT: Head-worn-assisted remote operation of mobile controllers,” at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in London this summer. this spring.

The findings are published on arXiv print server available.