Robotics Commons^™

Motion And Emotion Estimation For Robotic Autism Intervention., Jacob M Berdichevsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Robots have recently emerged as a novel approach to treating autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A robot can be programmed to interact with children with ASD in order to reinforce positive social skills in a non-threatening environment. In prior work, robots were employed in interaction sessions with ASD children, but their sensory and learning abilities were limited, while a human therapist was heavily involved in “puppeteering” the robot. The objective of this work is to create the next-generation autism robot that includes several new interactive and decision-making capabilities that are not found in prior technology. Two of the main features that …

Xylo-Bot: A Therapeutic Robot-Based Music Platform For Children With Autism, Huanghao Feng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience deficits in verbal and nonverbal communication skills, including motor control, emotional facial expressions, and eye gaze / joint attention. This Ph.D. dissertation focuses on studying the feasibility and effectiveness of using a social robot, called NAO, and a toy music instrument, xylophone, at modeling and improving the social responses and behaviors of children with ASD. In our investigation, we designed an autonomous social interactive music teaching system to fulfill this mission.

A novel modular robot-music teaching system consisting of three modules is presented. Module 1 provides an autonomous self-awareness positioning system for the …