Social, Assistive Mobile Manipulator (SAMM) to enhance functional independence in persons with tetraplegia secondary to severe cervical spinal cord injury

Project Summary/Abstract Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) can have a devastating impact on individuals and their families, as well as on society as a whole. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, in the US there are approximately 17,500 new cases of SCI each year and an estimated 300,000 people living with SCI. The lifetime cost of care for a person with SCI can be in the millions of dollars, and the physical and emotional toll on individuals and their families can be immense. People with SCI-induced tetraplegia (SCI-IT), who make up more than half of the SCI population, often require round-the-clock care and assistance with basic activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating. This places a tremendous burden on caregivers, who may struggle to balance their caregiving responsibilities with work and other obligations. In addition to the physical challenges, people with SCI may experience depression, anxiety, and social isolation, which can further impact their quality of life. Dramatic improvements in survival with no known cure result in an unmet need to facilitate independent living for people with SCI and improve their psychosocial well-being while reducing the burden on at-home caregivers. One promising approach to reducing caregiver burden and facilitating patient independence is to apply advances in autonomous and social robotics to physical task assistance. The use of mobile robots with arms capable of manipulating objects, or mobile manipulators (e.g., Stretch-3), in dynamic environments (e.g., a home) to perform tasks is a scientific frontier ripe for application. However, these new robotic capabilities must be paired with the latest social robot interaction capabilities, which have been used to promote psychosocial health in people’s homes but are unable to perform physical tasks on behalf of end users. To explore the profound benefit these technologies can have on persons with SCI and their caregivers, Charles River Analytics, in partnership with Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, will prototype and demonstrate the feasibility of a Social, Assistive Mobile Manipulator (SAMM) software suite to enhance functional independence and psychosocial well-being in people with SCI. Phase I will culminate in a demonstration of SAMM, an assistive technology that integrates a commercially available robotic system with a novel software framework that includes manipulation, navigation, perception, and natural language to provide task-based actions with social engagement.