Robots in Assistive Technology

Our Problem:
Design and build a robot that can assist a person with a disability or an elderly person in accomplishing a daily task.

Basic Requirements of Robot Design:
. The robot can either be a full size model or a scale model.
. It must use sensors to respond to its environment.
. It must exhibit complex decision making, such as reacting in different ways depending on what it senses from light and/or touch sensors.
. The program must include forks or jumps.
. The robot can either interact with a person or, operating autonomously, interact with the environment.

Our Solution:

In consideration of the basic requirements, we decided to target our design on those whose disability disallows the use of the human hand. This mechanism will have two main objectives: to grab and release whatever object it must grab.

Programming:

The programming is the essential factor of the claw's efficiency. Seeing that we are limited to one programming box/power box, as well as only two touch sensors (when we needed essentially three of them), we decided to create a prosthetic claw. This mechanism was to have two main objectives: to grab ahold of whatever object it "recognizes," and to release this said object.

On the claw there is one touch sensor that upon being "released," the claw would begin to close. By released, that means that the pressure on the touch sensor is applied, and the program shall not work till the pressure on the touch sensor is alleviated. Once the claw begins to close, and pressure is once more applied onto the first sensor, the claw stops its current function. For the claw to open, the other touch sensor must be pressed. There is a switch that is pressed manually, and this then causes the other part of the program to begin its function, releasing the object. Once the claw expands a certain distance, the claw stops its release function.

The program is set to loop, allowing the user of the "prosthetic claw" to use it a multitude of times, increasing the efficiency.

The Result:
The claw was successful. When an object touched the sensor, the claw grabbed onto it and when the object was set down onto the table, the claw released. It performed its basic functions exponentially and proved to be an efficient design. Also, the efficiency of the claw is based on the user's ability to adapt with it; thus it is expected that the user masters the claw and uses it to its fullest potential.