Ohayo gozaimasu! Good day, Everyone! Thanks
so much for this opportunity to attend the
International Robot Exhibition and share with
you how robotics and many assistive technologies
can help people with disabilities everyday.
First, I will introduce myself using the Beam
from Suitable Technologies. The Beam provides
me accessibility to attend classes on campus
and conferences around the world. Let me show you.
I am a proud Indian-American living with physical disability in the United States.
I am pursuing my Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).
I am working with Dr. Tim Oates
on assistive robotics to increase independence
for people with physical disabilities (http://www.csee.umbc.edu/~kavi1).
With robotics, we can help. How can we help those with severe  physical disabilities live independently?
Robotics can assist people with disabilities
and seniors in different
domain applications. Transferring, repositioning,
personal hygiene, eating, education,
telepresence, domestics chores, and rehabilitation.
In the next set of slides, prototype that we designed to achieve these tasks will be shown.
Wearable Sling: slings for the head and trunk with two hooks each and a sling for each forearm, upper arm, upper leg, and lower leg on both the right and left sides each with a single hook to total 12 hooks on the device.
Piano Mattress
An inflatable mattress with air chambers that can be raised or lowered to different heights for user comfort.
Piano Lifter:
Accompanies the piano mattress for repositioning and transferring. The device has five tines and two grippers with three digits. Tines can slide into the deflated segments of the mattress to curl around the body and execute the required movement on the limbs, trunk, and head.
Penta-Gripper
Repositioning and transferring with five grippers. Each gripper gently wraps around the limb or body to perform movement.
Commode Chair
useful for the bathroom and shower, adjustable seat elevation with tilt and recline, wheels with brakes, adjustable
headrest, armrests, and footrests with a joystick for maneuverability.
Toilet Tongs
Useful for personal hygiene after toileting. Toilet paper is retrieved by the tongs. person is leaned forward with tines that curl above the shoulder and person has padded support on the chest, head is supported.
Tongs wipe the bottom. There is a faucet in the center of the tongs that sprays water for cleaning,
the person again is leaned back in sitting position after the procedure.
Universal Gripper (UniGripper) is for
feeding, wiping the mouth with a napkin, combing hair, and other fine motor activities.
Robotic toothbrush
Has three grippers with three digits each. A gripper for the toothbrush, water supply, and eliminating secretions. There is also a head support.
In order to bring these prototypes into reality, many factors have to come together..
How can people with severe physical disabilities thrive professionally? The support of assistive technologies and networking to meet professional contacts are very important.
Assistive technologies 
I use
Logitech Trackball Mouse, SofType that is an Onscreen Keyboard with Word Prediction, Speech Recognition with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Skype and Google Hangout as video conferencing technologies, and just for the past year I have used the Beam from Suitable Technologies that is a form of Telepresence (Smart Presence) System…and the Beam has really transformed my life positively.
My First experience using the beam was in Seattle, Washington last year in September at the UbiComp conference. It was a part of a selection process in the telepresence initiative study Standing 5 feet tall and having conversations at eye level was a first for me. by using the beam.At that conference, I met one of the directors of suitable technologies and we formed a friendship and my life has never been the same ever since.
With the support of the Beam, I successfully defended my Ph.D. Thesis Proposal. My advisor Dr. Tim Oates and my PhD committee members Dr. Dan Ding, Dr. Tim Finin, Dr. Charles Nicholas, and Dr. Yelena Yesha were very supportive. It was most likely the first time someone has ever defended their PhD thesis proposal via a telepresence system.
With the beam, I’ve attended many different conferences, events, museums, and even concerts. The autonomy and independence is incredible!
Arigatou gozaimasu Together we can steer the trajectory of robotic technologies advancement to promote greater independence for all. Thank you.
