2025 Stretch Robot Pitch Competition

Components

Title page (8.5 X 11 inches in pdf or doc format in front of 2 page proposal)
- Project Title: name of concept and
- Brief description of concept: 1 sentence
- Contestant(s):
  - Name
  - College or department affiliation
  - Official university email address
  - *Information needed for all authors, if submitting as a team.

Proposal (2 pages, 8.5 X 11 inches in pdf or doc format) that highlights:
- Need/Use Case: Identify a need for individuals aging with disabilities; state how the proposed design concept (software and/or hardwareinnovation with Stretch) addresses the need; describe and the significance and implications of the design.
- Methods/Approach: Design process, considerations, and how you will develop & test your concept (during Spring 2026 if selected as winner)
  - Proposals that incorporate human-centered design strategies (e.g., getting user input on problem; plans for iterative design of prototypes based on user feedback) will be highly desirable.
  - Consider your team composition and if you have the appropriate skillset for developing the prototype
- Concept: Detailed description of concept, including pictures or graphics, if applicable.
- Timeline: Proposed timeline for developing a working prototype during Spring 2026
- Cost: Specify any additional perceived costs (materials or software) for developing and testing the product

Pitch video: A video (< 3 minutes) that provides an overview of your proposed design concept. It can be a video or powerpoint with audio recording.

Judges will include representatives from TechSAge, Hello Robot, AI-CARING, and IPaT.
Submissions will be evaluated and scored based on the following criteria:
- Aging with a Disability: How does the concept address the need(s) of people aging with disabilities? What is the importance of the problem and how does the concept solve it?
- Feasibility: How realistic or practical is the concept? Does the team have a concrete plan for developing a working prototype in Spring 2026?
- Innovativeness: How creative is the concept?
- Universal Design: To what extent is the concept designed to be useable by people to the greatest extent possible and/or integrate universal design principles?
- Human-Centered Design: To what extent was feedback from target users or clinicians incorporated in the planning/design process?
- Interdisciplinary Approach: To what extent were people with relevant expertise consulted or part of the team (e.g., occupational therapy, physical therapy, assistive technology, aging, disability)? Do team members represent different disciplines?
*This competition is for pitching new ideas for Stretch. We strongly discourage proposals about work that has already been done with Stretch. If you are unsure about this, please contact us with your initial idea to confirm.