Pitt researchers received a grant for a research project intended to revolutionize wheelchair mobility and improve quality of life for individuals with disabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health<\/a> recently awarded researchers in the Human Engineering Research Laboratory<\/a>, an interdisciplinary collaboration between Pitt and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, up to $41.5 million. The funding will support the development of the Robotic Assisted Mobility and Manipulation Platform<\/a>, an integrative system that uses AI and robotic technology to enhance wheelchair mobility.<\/p>\n According to Rory Cooper, director of HERL and professor of rehabilitation engineering, RAMMP is the first fully integrated mobility and manipulation platform that combines advancements in robotic technology and AI capabilities to improve the independence of individuals with disabilities and elderly adults.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re planning to provide unprecedented mobility, at least for individuals with limited upper and lower extremity function,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cWe want to make [the existing technology] lighter, more responsive, smarter and also more transportable.\u201d<\/p>\n Jorge Candiotti, an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and biomedical engineer at HERL, highlighted that RAMMP would allow for technology to be developed using AI capabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will create a virtual platform with RAMMP, where we can develop the technology virtually with all of its applications and deploy that in a physical platform,\u201d Candiotti said. \u201cThe overarching goal of RAMMP is to create a consumer product for individuals with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n Cooper said simple tasks like meal preparation may be difficult for wheelchair users due to navigation difficulties with different kitchen layouts. RAMMP uses physical AI, which uses AI to simulate environments virtually and translate that information into the real world, to provide wheelchair users with more freedom of mobility in their homes, according to Cooper.<\/p>\n \u201cIn AI, you could simulate all different types of environments and tasks, and then take those path-planning algorithms from the AI and translate them in the real world,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cAI has the advantage of being able to generalize by simulating different environmental layouts.\u201d<\/p>\n Existing wheelchair technology is not designed for navigating challenging or inaccessible environments, according to Candiotti.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no universal design [for wheelchair technology], so the interfaces that are currently used for this technology are very demanding,\u201d Candiotti said. \u201cWe want to alleviate the demand on the [current technology] and create a more intuitive and user-friendly interface.\u201d<\/p>\n Kaden Herchenroether, a senior sociology major and wheelchair user, said the benefit of improving wheelchair mobility is its effect on quality of life for people with disabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have a fully-functioning brain, then you want to experience independence and not be waited on by someone all the time,\u201d Herchenroether said. \u201cI think that\u2019s everyone\u2019s dream to have function on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n Herchenroether stressed the potential of this assistive technology research to make independently performing daily tasks easier for people with disabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEven the most simple, basic task isn\u2019t simple for a disabled person,\u201d Herchenroether said. \u201cAny advancement that can be made is an amazing project to be working on.\u201d<\/p>\n