Driving Babies Pave Road for Disabled Kids
By Associated Press via MSNBC,Publication Date: December 20, 2007
News article features a wheeled robot to help immobile, disabled infants move and explore. In development at the University of Delaware, the robot, UD1, resembles a bumper car steered by a joystick and is equipped with infrared and sonar sensors that can avoid obstacles. The robot is being used in studies involving about a dozen typically developing infants and a smaller number who have special needs. Using a computer and wireless technology, researchers can measure the frequency and duration of joystick use by a child; the location, speed, and distance traveled by the vehicle; and the amount of time spent propelling it. The development of UD1 can add to the existing body of knowledge about mobility and the developmental needs of children which resulted in commercially available products such as the British Wizzybug which, although it lacks some of UD1’s robotic features, has a programmable joystick and parental control.
Published by: Associated Press (Website:http://www.ap.org)
Link to text: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22345882/?gt1=10645&displaymode=1098
