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Assistive Robot Design for Handwriting Skill Therapy of Children with Autism

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Intelligent Robotics and Applications (ICIRA 2022)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 13455))

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Abstract

The complex handwriting skill needs reasonable planning along with fine motor skill. However, most children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) possess motor deficits adversely affecting handwriting. Specifically, it can be divided into extreme finger force, unsmooth handwriting, uncoordinated fingers and other problems, addressable through intervention and robots can provide efficient and engaging ASD intervention environments for children with Autism. The work presented in this paper aims at targeted training of the skills required for writing by developing a multifunctional hand-held robot. The robot is composed of pressure sensor, optical flow sensor, led and other components and its interactive system includes finger strength training game and trajectory training game. Children with autism complete the training by engaging in emotional touch behaviors through an interactive game system. This study conducted a usability study with 8 right-handed healthy volunteers. The results showed significant improvements in finger strength control, fine motor and trajectory control. In particular, the results of trajectory training show that more visual feedback early in training can help them understand and adapt to the game more quickly. It can be expected that the system can be also applied for children with autism for motor training.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Xiansheng Huang & Yinfeng Fang

Authors
  1. Xiansheng Huang
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  2. Yinfeng Fang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yinfeng Fang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, China

    Honghai Liu

  2. Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Zhouping Yin

  3. Shenyang Institute of Automation, Shenyang, Liaoning, China

    Lianqing Liu

  4. Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China

    Li Jiang

  5. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Guoying Gu

  6. Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Shenzhen, China

    Xinyu Wu

  7. Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, China

    Weihong Ren

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Huang, X., Fang, Y. (2022). Assistive Robot Design for Handwriting Skill Therapy of Children with Autism. In: Liu, H., et al. Intelligent Robotics and Applications. ICIRA 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13455. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13844-7_40

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13844-7_40

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-13843-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-13844-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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