ANSO study: Evaluation in an indoor environment of a mobile assistance robotic grasping arm

摘要

Objective: To evaluate the reliability and functional acceptability of the "Synthetic Autonomous Majordomo" (SAM) robotic aid system (a mobile Neobotix base equipped with a semi-automatic vision interface and a Manus robotic arm). Materials and methods: An open, multicentre, controlled study. We included 29tetraplegic patients (23patients with spinal cord injuries, 3 with locked-in syndrome and 4 with other disorders; mean. ±. SD age: 37.83. ±. 13.3) and 34control participants (mean. ±. SD age: 32.44. ±. 11.2). The reliability of the user interface was evaluated in three multi-step scenarios: selection of the room in which the object to be retrieved was located (in the presence or absence of visual control by the user), selection of the object to be retrieved, the grasping of the object itself and the robot's return to the user with the object. A questionnaire was used to assess the robot's user acceptability. Results: The SAM system was stable and reliable: both patients and control participants experienced few failures when completing the various stages of the scenarios. The graphic interface was effective for selecting and grasping the object - even in the absence of visual control. Users and carers were generally satisfied with SAM, although only a quarter of patients said that they would consider using the robot in their activities of daily living.