Customizing Tele-Operation Interfaces of Assistive Robots at Home with Occupational Therapists

Abstract

To assist individuals with motor limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs), robots need to adapt to their user's unique needs, preferences, and environments. In this work we developed an Accessible Teleop Toolkit for the Stretch RE2 robot, employing tele-operation to overcome the challenges of operating in highly unstructured homes, while enabling accessibility of the interface through customization. We evaluated the impact of customization via a user study involving 10 individuals with motor impairments and 13 without. This lead to a deployment in a home for several weeks facilitated by an occupational therapist (OT) and enabling a user with quadriplegia to perform tasks more independently. We are currently working on increasing autonomy of the robot and understanding how assistive robots can be integrated into OT practices. This work aims to empower users and OTs in optimizing assistive robots for individual needs.