Design of a Robotic Mobility System with a Modular Haptic Feedback Approach to Promote Socialization in Children

• Published in: IEEE transactions on haptics Vol. 7; no. 2; pp. 131 - 139
• Main Authors: Xi Chen, Ragonesi, Christina, Galloway, James C., Agrawal, Sunil K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01.04.2014; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Child; Children; Equipment Design - instrumentation; Feedback; Feedback, Sensory - physiology; Force; Force-feedback joystick; Games; Haptic interfaces; Haptics; human tracking; Humans; mobile robot path planning and control; Mobile robots; Modular; Navigation; Path planning; Robot kinematics; Robotics - instrumentation; Socialization; socialization in children; Spatial Navigation; Touch Perception - physiology; Training; Trains
• ISSN: 1939-1412; 2329-4051; 2329-4051
• DOI: 10.1109/TOH.2013.38

Self-initiated mobility is a causal factor in children's development. Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of our training methods in learning directional driving and navigation. The ultimate goal of mobility training is to enable children to be social, that is, to interact with their peers. A powered mobility device was developed that can localize itself, map the environment, plan an obstacle-free path to a goal, and ensure safety of a human driver. Combined with a positioning system, this system is able to apply a force field using a modular haptic feedback approach to train subjects to drive towards an object, a caregiver, a peer, or a group of peers. System feasibility was tested by designing a `ball chasing' game. Results show that the system is promising in promoting socialization in children.