1226 Part F Field and Service Robotics onto the market in the early 1990s,multisite user test- Rich Mahoney,moved to ARC and was instrumental ing revealed it was still too costly for the functionality in extending the company's repertoire to the RAPTOR it had:ProVAR development ensued,then continued by wheelchair-mounted arm [53.18]. Machiel Van der Loos.All these versions were based In Europe,the most significant mobile manipula- on the Puma-260 industrial manipulator to achieve ro- tor project was the MANUS project [53.19]mentioned bust,safe operation.Research shifted in 2006 to the earlier.With much of the work done under the di- Veterans Affairs(VA)in Syracuse,NY,to integrate sens- rection of Hok Kwee at the Rehabilitation Research ing and autonomous features and explore new,more and Development Center (iRV)in the Netherlands,the cost-effective manipulator options. project culminated in a robot specifically designed for In the mid 1980s.from observations on the wheelchair mounting,with control through a joystick unsuitability of existing industrial,educational,and and feedback by a small display on the arm itself.This orthosis-derived manipulators for rehabilitation appli- project has led to numerous follow-on research projects, cations,Tim Jones at Universal Machine Intelligence and,most significantly,to the commercialization of the (later Oxford Intelligent Machines,OxIM)in the UK system by Exact Dynamics BV,in the Netherlands.It is began an intensive effort to provide the rehabilitation currently offered free on physician prescription by the robotics community with its first workhorse system spe- Dutch government to qualified people with a disability cially designed from the ground up for human service such as cerebral palsy or tetraplegia from a spinal cord tasks.Over ten years,a series of systems,starting with injury. the RTX model,were used in numerous research labs and Autonomous navigation systems on electric clinics around the world.The most extensive effort to wheelchairs also began in the 1980s,benefiting initially use the OxIM arm was in France,and a suite of research from the development by Polaroid Corporation of range projects,funded by the French government and the Eu- finders for its cameras using ultrasonic sensors.They ropean Research Commission,starting as the robot for were inexpensive,and small enough,at 30 mm in diam- assisting the integration of the disabled(RAID),then eter,that dozens of them could be placed around the as MASTER [53.15],developed and clinically tested periphery of a wheelchair to aid medium-range navi- workstation-based assistive systems based on the RTX gation 10-500cm).In the 1990s and early 2000s, and subsequent OxIM arms.When OxIM ceased build- with the advent of vision-based servoing and laser range ing its arms,the French company Afma Robotics [53.16] scanners,algorithms for faster,smarter,less-error-prone took over efforts to commercialize the MASTER system, navigation and obstacle avoidance dominated research which it continues to do today (2007). advances in this sector.In Korea,for example,Zenn Bien The UK was also the site of the first commercially at the Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Tech- available feeding robot,Handy-I,an inexpensive and nology(KAIST)Human Welfare Robotics Center began well-received device first designed by Mike Topping developing the KAIST rehabilitation engineering system and then commercialized by Rehabilitation Robotics. (KARES)line of wheelchair-based navigation systems Ltd.in the 1990s [53.17].Primarily aimed to enabled in the late 1990s [53.20]and the NavChair project at the people with cerebral palsy to achieve a measure of in- University of Michigan was the start of a development dependence in feeding themselves,task environments line that led to the commercialized Hephaestus system later also included face washing and the application of at the University of Pittsburgh [53.21,22]. cosmetics,areas of high demand identified by its users. Therapy robots had a later start than assistive robots, The history of mobile manipulator applications be- with early exercise devices such as the BioDex [53.23] gan in the 1980s with adaptations of educational and a first step in programmable,force-controlled,albeit industrial robots,and achieved a boost with the funding single-axis devices,in the mid 1980s.The first multi-axis of the US National Institute on Disability and Rehabilita- concept was published by Khalili and Zomlefer [53.24], tion Research(NIDRR)for a Rehabilitation Engineering and the first tested system by Robert Erlandson at Research Center on Rehabilitation Robotics (RERC)Wayne State University emerged in the mid 1980s at the Alfred I.duPont Hospital in Delaware from as well [53.25].The RTX manipulator had a touch- 1993-1997.With its ability to fund dozens of research sensitive pad as an end-effector,presenting targets at projects in parallel,it also formed a partnership with different locations for patients with upper-extremity a local company,Applied Resources,Corp.(ARC), weakness (e.g.,following a stroke)to hit after the which developed and marketed several rehabilitation screen gave a visual signal.Software logged response technology products.One of the RERC researchers, times,thereby providing a score that was tallied and1226 Part F Field and Service Robotics onto the market in the early 1990s, multisite user test￾ing revealed it was still too costly for the functionality it had: ProVAR development ensued, then continued by Machiel Van der Loos. All these versions were based on the Puma-260 industrial manipulator to achieve ro￾bust, safe operation. Research shifted in 2006 to the Veterans Affairs (VA) in Syracuse, NY, to integrate sens￾ing and autonomous features and explore new, more cost-effective manipulator options. In the mid 1980s, from observations on the unsuitability of existing industrial, educational, and orthosis-derived manipulators for rehabilitation appli￾cations, Tim Jones at Universal Machine Intelligence (later Oxford Intelligent Machines, OxIM) in the UK began an intensive effort to provide the rehabilitation robotics community with its first workhorse system spe￾cially designed from the ground up for human service tasks. Over ten years, a series of systems, starting with the RTX model, were used in numerous research labs and clinics around the world. The most extensive effort to use the OxIM arm was in France, and a suite of research projects, funded by the French government and the Eu￾ropean Research Commission, starting as the robot for assisting the integration of the disabled (RAID), then as MASTER [53.15], developed and clinically tested workstation-based assistive systems based on the RTX and subsequent OxIM arms. When OxIM ceased build￾ing its arms, the French company Afma Robotics [53.16] took over efforts to commercialize the MASTER system, which it continues to do today (2007). The UK was also the site of the first commercially available feeding robot, Handy-I, an inexpensive and well-received device first designed by Mike Topping and then commercialized by Rehabilitation Robotics, Ltd. in the 1990s [53.17]. Primarily aimed to enabled people with cerebral palsy to achieve a measure of in￾dependence in feeding themselves, task environments later also included face washing and the application of cosmetics, areas of high demand identified by its users. The history of mobile manipulator applications be￾gan in the 1980s with adaptations of educational and industrial robots, and achieved a boost with the funding of the US National Institute on Disability and Rehabilita￾tion Research (NIDRR) for a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Rehabilitation Robotics (RERC) at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital in Delaware from 1993–1997. With its ability to fund dozens of research projects in parallel, it also formed a partnership with a local company, Applied Resources, Corp. (ARC), which developed and marketed several rehabilitation technology products. One of the RERC researchers, Rich Mahoney, moved to ARC and was instrumental in extending the company’s repertoire to the RAPTOR wheelchair-mounted arm [53.18]. In Europe, the most significant mobile manipula￾tor project was the MANUS project [53.19] mentioned earlier. With much of the work done under the di￾rection of Hok Kwee at the Rehabilitation Research and Development Center (iRV) in the Netherlands, the project culminated in a robot specifically designed for wheelchair mounting, with control through a joystick and feedback by a small display on the arm itself. This project has led to numerous follow-on research projects, and, most significantly, to the commercialization of the system by Exact Dynamics BV, in the Netherlands. It is currently offered free on physician prescription by the Dutch government to qualified people with a disability such as cerebral palsy or tetraplegia from a spinal cord injury. Autonomous navigation systems on electric wheelchairs also began in the 1980s, benefiting initially from the development by Polaroid Corporation of range finders for its cameras using ultrasonic sensors. They were inexpensive, and small enough, at 30 mm in diam￾eter, that dozens of them could be placed around the periphery of a wheelchair to aid medium-range navi￾gation (≈ 10–500 cm). In the 1990s and early 2000s, with the advent of vision-based servoing and laser range scanners, algorithms for faster, smarter, less-error-prone navigation and obstacle avoidance dominated research advances in this sector. In Korea, for example, Zenn Bien at the Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Tech￾nology (KAIST) Human Welfare Robotics Center began developing the KAIST rehabilitation engineering system (KARES) line of wheelchair-based navigation systems in the late 1990s [53.20] and the NavChair project at the University of Michigan was the start of a development line that led to the commercialized Hephaestus system at the University of Pittsburgh [53.21, 22]. Therapy robots had a later start than assistive robots, with early exercise devices such as the BioDex [53.23] a first step in programmable, force-controlled, albeit single-axis devices, in the mid 1980s. The first multi-axis concept was published by Khalili and Zomlefer [53.24], and the first tested system by Robert Erlandson at Wayne State University emerged in the mid 1980s as well [53.25]. The RTX manipulator had a touch￾sensitive pad as an end-effector, presenting targets at different locations for patients with upper-extremity weakness (e.g., following a stroke) to hit after the screen gave a visual signal. Software logged response times, thereby providing a score that was tallied and Part F 53.1