Related papers: Active Robot-Assisted Feeding with a General-Purpo…
A successful robot-assisted feeding system requires bite acquisition of a wide variety of food items. It must adapt to changing user food preferences under uncertain visual and physical environments. Different food items in different…
Despite the growth of physically assistive robotics (PAR) research over the last decade, nearly half of PAR user studies do not involve participants with the target disabilities. There are several reasons for this -- recruitment challenges,…
The ability to shop independently, especially in grocery stores, is important for maintaining a high quality of life. This can be particularly challenging for people with visual impairments (PVI). Stores carry thousands of products, with…
Food recognition is an important task for a variety of applications, including managing health conditions and assisting visually impaired people. Several food recognition studies have focused on generic types of food or specific cuisines,…
Age-related loss of mobility and increased risk of falling remain important obstacles toward facilitating aging-in-place. Many elderly people lack the coordination and strength necessary to perform common movements around their home, such…
Physical caregiving robots hold promise for improving the quality of life of millions worldwide who require assistance with feeding. However, in-home meal assistance remains challenging due to the diversity of activities (e.g., eating,…
Eating is a daily challenge for over 60 million adults with essential tremors and other mobility limitations. For these users, traditional utensils like forks or spoons are difficult to manipulate -- resulting in accidental spills and…
For robots to assist users with household tasks, they must first learn about the tasks from the users. Further, performing the same task every day, in the same way, can become boring for the robot's user(s), therefore, assistive robots must…
Numerous diseases and aging can cause degeneration of people's balance ability resulting in limited mobility and even high risks of fall. Robotic technologies can provide more intensive rehabilitation exercises or be used as assistive…
Unhealthy dietary habits are considered as the primary cause of various chronic diseases, including obesity and diabetes. The automatic food intake monitoring system has the potential to improve the quality of life (QoL) of people with…
Acquiring food items with a fork poses an immense challenge to a robot-assisted feeding system, due to the wide range of material properties and visual appearances present across food groups. Deformable foods necessitate different skewering…
A particular type of assistive robots designed for physical interaction with objects could play an important role assisting with mobility and fall prevention in healthcare facilities. Autonomous mobile manipulation presents a hurdle prior…
The reliance on vision for tasks related to cooking and eating healthy can present barriers to cooking for oneself and achieving proper nutrition. There has been little research exploring cooking practices and challenges faced by people…
Cooking is a central activity of daily living, supporting independence as well as mental and physical health. However, prior work has highlighted key barriers for people with low vision (LV) to cook, particularly around safely interacting…
Mindless eating, or the lack of awareness of the food we are consuming, has been linked to health problems attributed to unhealthy eating behaviour, including obesity. Traditional approaches used to moderate eating behaviour often rely on…
Legged manipulators extend robotic capabilities beyond static manipulation by integrating agile locomotion with versatile arm control. However, achieving precise manipulation while maintaining coordinated locomotion remains a major…
Assistive robot manipulators must be able to autonomously pick and place a wide range of novel objects to be truly useful. However, current assistive robots lack this capability. Additionally, assistive systems need to have an interface…
Assistive robotic systems endeavour to support those with movement disabilities, enabling them to move again and regain functionality. Main issue with these systems is the complexity of their low-level control, and how to translate this to…
Detecting an ingestion environment is an important aspect of monitoring dietary intake. It provides insightful information for dietary assessment. However, it is a challenging problem where human-based reviewing can be tedious, and…
Assistive robot arms have the potential to help disabled or elderly adults eat everyday meals without relying on a caregiver. To provide meaningful assistance, these robots must reach for food items, pick them up, and then carry them to the…