Engineering Memory of the Month

A one-armed friend

In 1983, when the only roles for robots were in science fiction or heavy manufacturing, mechanical engineering Professor Larry Leifer was trying out ideas that today still seem avant garde . He was making user-friendly robots to help the disabled and his efforts won widespread attention, including coverage in The New York Times .

"It listens, talks and performs simple chores. In an improved version, to be introduced in the next few months, ...it even 'feels,' with a primitive but serviceable sense of touch," wrote reporter Steven Marcus.

Leifer and the one-armed robot are shown above engaging in lab testing.

Leifer and colleagues including ME Professor Bernie Roth were not only eager to help the severely disabled—the robot was tested extensively with patients at the Veterans Administration hospital in Palo Alto—but also to advance the idea that robotics could extend the capabilities of people, rather than replace them through automation. Overcoming impaired communication, not just motion, was a key aspect of the work.

Today, research in assistive robotics continues, although Leifer now focuses his on work more on communication and collaboration within teams of people as they strive to create all kinds of innovations. But communicative robots are still in the picture.

"My focus is on the human-human interface for distributed design-teams. Not surprisingly, that interface includes a massive amount of communication-technology. Our hot topic of the moment is 'ROSIE: a communication robot' whose role is to facilitate communication between distribute team members through physical and haptic presence."

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