Hello Robot receives $2.5M award from the National Institute of Health to advance robot assistance for older adults with mobility and mild cognitive impairments
Martinez, CA Monday, January 9, 2023
Hello Robot, a leader in assistive mobile manipulator robots, has received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute on Aging (National Institutes of Health) for approximately $2.5 million.
The goal of the grant is to develop the Stretch Cognitive and Physical Assistant, a friendly, affordable, and capable robot helper that can assist older adults who have a range of cognitive and physical impairments.
“Caregiving is in crisis.”, says Hello Robot CEO Dr. Aaron Edsinger. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to arrange care for older family members living at home. Robots such as Stretch hold incredible promise to augment the caregiving workforce, allowing loved ones to age-in-place at home for longer.”
The grant builds on a Phase I NIH award where Hello Robot teamed with a University of Illinois research team led by Dr. Wendy Rogers to demonstrate the meaningful assistance that Stretch could provide to an individual with quadriplegia. Additional collaborators on the new grant include Speech and Hearing Science Associate Professor Raksha Mudar and Harshal Mahajan, Assistant Director of Research for the McKechnie Family LIFE Home. Also part of the new team are ClarkLindsey, an independent life plan community in Urbana, IL.
The Phase II grant will extend the prior work to include assisting individuals with mild cognitive impairments with both physical and cognitive tasks. Hello Robot plans to refine the remote control interface to be used by caregivers, develop autonomous activities for Stretch, and explore Stretch’s utility in a variety of home and assisted living environments.
“This award brings together an incredible team – working together towards a shared vision where robots like Stretch can enhance life for everyone, including children, older adults, and people with disabilities ” says Dr. Edsinger
The second version of Stretch, which currently targets researchers, is priced at $19,950 and is available for purchase on Hello Robot’s website.
About Hello Robot
Hello Robot is committed to a future in which robots like Stretch enhance life for everyone. The Stretch robot is an invitation for researchers to make robots fun, useful, and inclusive.
Hello Robot was founded in 2017 by experts in human-centric robotics. Dr. Edsinger was previously Director of Robotics at Google following the acquisition of two of his robotics companies in 2013. Dr. Kemp is a professor at Georgia Tech where he has conducted extensive research on the use of intelligent robots to physically assist older adults and people with disabilities.
Hello Robot has offices in Atlanta, GA and Martinez, CA.
About the Award
Title: Stretching their Reach: Robotic Support for Older Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment, Early Alzheimer’s Dementia, and Mobility Impairments
Funded by: National Institute on Aging (National Institutes of Health) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II
Principal Investigators: Aaron Edsinger (Hello Robot); Wendy Rogers (Illinois)
Co-Investigators: Raksha Mudar (SHS); Harshal Mahajan (KCH); Charles Kemp (Hello Robot); Vy Nguyen (Hello Robot); Laura Edwards (ClarkLindsey)
Total award: $2,537,474
Project Period: 12/15/22 - 11/30/24
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Media Contact
Dr. Aaron Edsinger, CEO
Hello Robot Inc
Source: Hello Robot Inc
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