Robot Enhanced Mobility: The Capacity for Your Infants to Learn Real World Navigation, and its Effect on Perception, Action and Cognition Development

机器人增强移动性：婴儿学习现实世界导航的能力及其对感知、行动和认知发展的影响

• 批准号: 0745833
• 负责人: James Galloway
• 金额: $ 32.49万
• 依托单位: University of Delaware
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-07-01 至 2012-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0745833&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Robot; Enhanced; Mobility; Capacity; Your

An infant's development emerges from exploration of the world. Over the first 6 months, infants use their reaching and grasping as the tools to explore nearby spaces. By the first year, independent mobility emerges and they use crawling and walking to explore distant locations. Not surprisingly, independent mobility is linked to widespread advances in cognitive development and learning abilities. Previous work by this research team with a joystick-driven, robot-enhanced mobility device suggests that young infants may have the learning ability and motivation to be mobile months before they walk. This current project will formally test whether young infants have the capacity to be trained to drive a mobile robot, and will determine the effects of these early experiences with mobility on their development. Specifically, the project will longitudinally track infants' navigation skill and general development as they are trained to drive a mobile robot, which is designed to aid their learning, maintain their safety and record their driving performance.The broader impacts of this project stem from the unique collaboration of robotics and infant development. Scientifically, this project will provide the foundational database for future studies of the effects of early mobility on infant learning and development. This project will also advance the design of developmentally inspired robotics, and provide guideposts for the design and construction of robots that effectively interact with young children. Educationally, the project will foster creative collaborations between students of engineering and child development. Furthermore, the interaction of robots and infants will be used as a model to expose students of various ages to the fun, excitement and satisfaction of science and engineering. Specific activities include robotics design classes including a campus-wide design contest, short course for high school teachers, seminar for child care providers, web cast seminars in rehabilitation robotics, and a video/CD-ROM on developmentally inspired robotics. A focus will be on exposing under-represented groups to the discovery of science. Finally, the project has therapeutic impacts. Infants who will not walk due to severe brain or bone disorders must wait until they are 3 years of age, if not much older, before a power wheelchair is available. This project with typically developing infants will pave the way for a large study of the developmental effects of providing special needs infants with safe, fun and effective mobility for real world exploration within the first year of life.

婴儿的发展源于对世界的探索。在前 6 个月内，婴儿使用伸手和抓握作为探索附近空间的工具。到了第一年，他们就开始独立行动，他们用爬行和步行来探索遥远的地方。毫不奇怪，独立行动能力与认知发展和学习能力的广泛进步有关。该研究团队之前使用操纵杆驱动的机器人增强移动设备进行的研究表明，年幼的婴儿可能在学会走路前几个月就具备了移动的学习能力和动力。当前的项目将正式测试年幼的婴儿是否有能力接受驾驶移动机器人的训练，并将确定这些早期移动经历对其发展的影响。具体来说，该项目将纵向跟踪婴儿在接受驾驶移动机器人训练时的导航技能和总体发展，该机器人旨在帮助他们学习、维护他们的安全并记录他们的驾驶表现。该项目的更广泛影响源于机器人技术和婴儿发育的独特合作。从科学角度来说，该项目将为未来研究早期活动对婴儿学习和发展的影响提供基础数据库。该项目还将推进发展型机器人的设计，并为与幼儿有效互动的机器人的设计和建造提供指导。在教育方面，该项目将促进工程和儿童发展学生之间的创造性合作。此外，还将以机器人与婴儿的互动为模型，让不同年龄段的学生感受到科学与工程的乐趣、兴奋和满足。具体活动包括机器人设计课程，包括全校范围内的设计竞赛、高中教师短期课程、儿童保育提供者研讨会、康复机器人网络直播研讨会以及有关发展性机器人技术的视频/CD-ROM。重点将是让代表性不足的群体接触科学发现。最后，该项目具有治疗作用。由于严重的大脑或骨骼疾病而无法行走的婴儿必须等到 3 岁（如果不是大很多）才能使用电动轮椅。该项目以正常发育的婴儿为对象，将为大规模研究铺平道路，研究为特殊需要的婴儿提供安全、有趣和有效的活动能力，以便他们在生命的第一年内探索现实世界。