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Hello Robot’s Stretch earned a $2.5 million grant to increase the robotic’s capabilities. | Source: Hello Robot
The National Institute on Aging, a part of the National Institute of Health (NIH), awarded Hello Robot with a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant value roughly $2.5 million.
Hello Robot creates assistive cellular manipulator robots that purpose to assist getting old adults with cognitive and bodily impairments. With the grant, the corporate hopes to additional develop its Stretch Cognitive and Physical Assistant.
Stretch is a slender and versatile cellular manipulator that may function autonomously. Stretch 2, the most recent model of the robotic, has a 109 cm vertical vary of movement, and a telescoping arm that may lengthen 52 cm past its base. The robotic’s wrist extends this attain in order that the robotic can attain the again of a countertop.
Hello Robot hopes that Stretch is usually a pleasant, inexpensive and succesful helper for older adults fighting a spread of bodily and cognitive impairments.
“Caregiving is in crisis,” Hello Robot CEO Dr. Aaron Edsinger mentioned in a launch. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to arrange care for older family members living at home. Robots such as Stretch hold incredible promise to augment the caregiving workforce, allowing loved ones to age-in-place at home for longer.”
The grant builds on a Phase I NIH award. With the earlier grant, Hello Robot labored with a analysis workforce on the University of Illinois, led by Dr. Wendy Rogers. The workforce confirmed that Stretch was capable of present significant help to a person with quadriplegia.
The new grant goals to increase on this earlier work and take a look at Stretch’s capabilities in serving to folks with gentle cognitive impairment with each bodily and cognitive duties.
“This award brings together an incredible team – working together towards a shared vision where robots like Stretch can enhance life for everyone, including children, older adults, and people with disabilities,” Edsinger mentioned in a launch.
Hello Robot additionally plans to make modifications to its distant management interface in order that it may be utilized by caregivers. The grant will even assist the corporate develop extra autonomous actions for Stretch and discover Stetch’s utility in quite a lot of house and assisted residing environments.