D5.5. AccessBot
Principal Investigator
Team Members: Wendy Rogers
Students: Muhammad Shahbaz Shah, Bethany Moss, Aryan Pal, Jamey Ricketts
Many older adults with vision impairments face challenges completing everyday activities that are important for living independently, such as managing medications, cleaning their homes, and organizing daily routines. Difficulties with these tasks can reduce independence and quality of life. This project is developing an assistive robot with accessible communication and control features to help older adults with vision impairments perform everyday household and health-management activities more safely and confidently. The team is working closely with existing research and accessible technologies to identify user needs, design easy-to-use robot interactions, and create solutions that fit naturally into home environments. By combining robotics, accessibility, and user-centered design, this project aims to expand opportunities for independent living and aging in place. The long-term goal is to advance practical, affordable, and scalable robotic technologies that support the daily needs and well-being of people aging with vision impairments.
Current Activities
- Our team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) has started onboarding undergraduate and graduate students, focusing on research goals and IRB training. We have scheduled weekly meetings with team members and monthly meetings with Wendy Rogers.
- We set up the Stretch robot, oriented team members on its functionality, and prepared a home simulation space for our study. We are reaching out to local organizations that support people with vision impairments to collaborate.
- Through analysis of data from the TechSAge R1 ACCESS project, we identified that Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), particularly household tasks and health management, need robotic support. We conducted a task analysis of cleaning and medication management tasks and are iterating on our findings.
- Additionally, we are reviewing existing accessible technologies for integration with the Stretch robot and compiling a resource sheet on quality, affordable, and relevant products. This resource has been shared with the TechSAge board and will benefit the D4 WayBot project team.
- We have begun testing the Stretch robot in a home simulation, developing its capabilities for IADLs, including multimodal communication for accessibility. We’re also integrating AI features for task execution and preparing a protocol for a user study and IRB application for testing later in the project.