Using a robot arm to facilitate the learning in young and mentally development-delayed children

The study is based on two assumptions: 1) the child is an active, goal-oriented participant in his or her own development; and 2) physical manipulation of objects is a major contributing factor in the development of cognitive and language skills in a very young child. The CRS robot arm system is used in our study. All the functions are under the control of a computer based software control algorithm. The training program uses either the teach pedant or a series of text commands to train the arm. With the teach pedant, the operator can move the arm in desired directions by pressing the button on the teach pedant. In the text training mode, the arm moves according to the command set predefined. Another important aspect of the project is how to set up the interface and communication environment between the young children and the robot arm. The final program lets the child to accomplish a series of processing complex tasks through simple operation of certain buttons. The programmed activities have a development sequence, which eventually brings the robot arm under the control of the child; at the same time it facilitates the learning process of the child.