More than a dozen Pittsburgh-area tech and business people gathered at Bakery
Square recently to celebrate National Robotics Week with, among others: a Kitchenbot that unloads
the dishwasher and makes dinner; the Personal Mobility and Manipulation
Appliance (PerMMA) that contains robotic arms capable of unscrewing lids and
other everyday chores; and the NAVISection that helps people to drive.
Innovation Works teamed with the Human
Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL), a joint project between the University of Pittsburgh and the VA Pittsburgh
Healthcare System as well as the pet project of Rory Cooper,
Ph.D., of UPMC and Pitt, to stage the April 12 tour of 10 different robotic
assistive devices for people with disabilities, recovering from strokes and
more.
“We’re applying the robotic technology to help people with disability
with their everyday living,” said researcher and faculty member Dan Ding,
Ph.D., who directed the tour.
Added Elaine Houston, a graduate student and PerMMA researcher who next
month will receive a Carnegie
Science post-secondary student award: “It’s not the big things that get to
people with disabilities; it’s the very, very small things. Being able to get a
drink on their own, being able to reheat a meal, get the jar of pasta sauce off
the top shelf at the grocery store. I love the chance to . . . provide that
independence and that ability to do things on their own. I mean, from me
growing up with a disability, I’ve experienced a lot of the same challenges and
frustrations. So to be able to see and give those opportunities to somebody
else is one of the biggest things that I love about what I do here.”