Robots have been used for many years in therapeutic activities with people with Autism Spectrum Disorder. However, most robots presented in the literature have limited or no mobility, are made of rigid materials, or are too expensive for many care centers. We share the choices and the design rationale of the latest version of a soft, mobile, low-cost, autonomous robot that has successfully been used for 3 years in a care center for activities that include both free play and structured games. Moreover, the kind of activities that can be performed with this robot, and the feedback obtained from therapists about its application are reported.
Present paper analyzes and compares two innovation models in robot design. The first part describes the incremental development process of Teo: a robotic tool for Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) treatment for children. The second part describes the radical innovation model used for Riby: a robotic tool for ASD treatment for adults. At the end of this paper, authors discuss the results of each case and expose the conclusions as a possible new method of product development in social robotics.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.