Related papers: Feel the Bite: Robot-Assisted Inside-Mouth Bite Tr…
Assistance during eating is essential for those with severe mobility issues or eating risks. However, dependence on traditional human caregivers is linked to malnutrition, weight loss, and low self-esteem. For those who require eating…
We demonstrate a robot-assisted feeding system that enables people with mobility impairments to feed themselves. Our system design embodies Safety, Portability, and User Control, with comprehensive full-stack safety checks, the ability to…
Robot-assisted feeding in household environments is challenging because it requires robots to generate trajectories that effectively bring food items of varying shapes and sizes into the mouth while making sure the user is comfortable. Our…
Ensuring safe and comfortable bite transfer during robot-assisted feeding is challenging due to the close physical human-robot interaction required. This paper presents a novel approach to modeling physical human-robot interaction in a…
Millions of people around the world need assistance with feeding. Robotic feeding systems offer the potential to enhance autonomy and quality of life for individuals with impairments and reduce caregiver workload. However, their widespread…
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,…
Robot-assisted feeding has the potential to improve the quality of life for individuals with mobility limitations who are unable to feed themselves independently. However, there exists a large gap between the homogeneous, curated plates…
We develop data-driven models to predict when a robot should feed during social dining scenarios. Being able to eat independently with friends and family is considered one of the most memorable and important activities for people with…
Assistive robots enable people with disabilities to conduct everyday tasks on their own. However, these tasks can be complex, containing both coarse reaching motions and fine-grained manipulation. For example, when eating, not only does one…
The paper presents REPeat, a Real2Sim2Real framework designed to enhance bite acquisition in robot-assisted feeding for soft foods. It uses `pre-acquisition actions' such as pushing, cutting, and flipping to improve the success rate of bite…
Robot-to-human object handover is an essential skill for robot assistants, from serving drinks at home to passing surgical tools in the operating room. We expect robots to perform handover robustly -- to release the object only after a firm…
Cutting is a common form of manipulation when working with divisible objects such as food, rope, or clay. Cooking in particular relies heavily on cutting to divide food items into desired shapes. However, cutting food is a challenging task…
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…
The development of novel texture adaptations for the management of swallowing disorders could be accelerated if reliable in vitro tests were made available. This study addresses some of the limitations of swallowing in vitro models, by…
Robot-assisted feeding enables people with disabilities who require assistance eating to enjoy a meal independently and with dignity. However, existing systems have only been tested in-lab or in-home, leaving in-the-wild social dining…
Robot-assisted bite acquisition involves picking up food items with varying shapes, compliance, sizes, and textures. Fully autonomous strategies may not generalize efficiently across this diversity. We propose leveraging feedback from the…
Eating is an essential activity of daily living (ADL) for staying healthy and living at home independently. Although numerous assistive devices have been introduced, many people with disabilities are still restricted from independent eating…
This paper describes a study to test the accuracy of a method that tracks wrist motion during eating to detect and count bites. The purpose was to assess its accuracy across demographic (age, gender, ethnicity) and bite (utensil, container,…
Robot-assisted feeding requires reliable bite acquisition, a challenging task due to the complex interactions between utensils and food with diverse physical properties. These interactions are further complicated by the temporal variability…
We explore the use of inner speech as a mechanism to enhance transparency and trust in social robots for dietary advice. In humans, inner speech structures thought processes and decision-making; in robotics, it improves explainability by…