Humanoid Robots for rehab

Background and goals

Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and the Industry 4.0 revolution have sparked renewed interest in using robotic systems for rehabilitation. Humanoid robots are increasingly being implemented, especially in elderly care and pediatric settings, due to their human-like appearance and conversational capabilities. A review of the scientific literature indicates that humanoid robots primarily act as motivators during therapy sessions, while movement assessment is performed through external technical setups.
In this study we combine the knowledge and expertise of computer vision (CV) and human robots to merge movement analysis with robotics in rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is to co-design and co-develop, test and evaluate technical solutions in Humanoid Robotics integrated with CV open-source software for rehabilitation practice for children with cerebral palsy.
The main goal for the academic year 2024-2025 is to study the usability of humanoid robotics in rehabilitation in children with cerebral palsy using markerless CV. A goal is also to continue the improvement and evaluation process of our CV prototype application.

Objectives and benefits

The purpose of this study is to co-design and co-develop, test and evaluate technical solutions in Humanoid Robotics integrated with CV open-source software for rehabilitation practice for children with cerebral palsy.
In the co-development we use a participatory research partnership model by SIpari et al 2022. The benefit of using active involvement of both users and providers of rehabilitation services as well as other child directed service in scientific research enhances the practical applicability and relevance of research-based knowledge in everyday settings.

Results

Expected outcomes are:
- Integration of user-friendly CV-based marker-less motion analysis software into humanoid robots
- An insight into how humanoid robots can be used in the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy
- New collaboration networks

Abstract

Use of digital practice in health care has been more frequent in recent years, e.g. due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and enforced health care organizations to integrate applied technology in everyday practice. Our goal in this novel long-term interdisciplinary research project is to, design, develop, test and evaluate technical solutions in Humanoid Robotics integrated with computer vision open-source software for digital practice in children with disabilities.