The following key Deliverables have been accomplished so far. A public version of selected Deliverables will be available at this page later.
D1.1 -- User needs report
This deliverable reports on the user needs assessment that was executed among potential users of the IROMEC concept. This assessment was performed in five countries with a shared methodology. The panels covered a range of potential target groups regarded relevant to the IROMEC aims by meeting the requirement of children who cannot play or only with great difficulty due to an impairment. The assessment was performed in three phases. In the first phase the potential of robotics in the current practice was investigated, in the second phase the initial results were analysed during a consortium meeting an consensus was reached on the structure of the collection of additional data. In the third phase these data were collected by means of a second series of panel meetings.
The representatives of the groups were positive about the concept of a social mediating robot toy or play supporting system. For the different target groups needs were formulated, resulting in differentiated play functionalities but also sufficient overlap was found between the groups to justify a modular IROMEC concept offering adequate potential to address the needs of the different groups
D2.1 -- Scenarios for robot assisted play
This deliverable summarises and reports on a comprehensive literature review, done by several IROMEC partners, related to play activities of children from different target user groups with existing technology. It then outlines play scenarios that are specifically relevant and suitable for the target user groups. These scenarios have been developed based on several
sources of input:
a) requirements of target user groups, based on the outcome of two rounds of user panels,
b) previous research experience of different IROMEC partners with different target user groups,
c) outcome of experimental investigations of various concepts of play scenarios that resulted from the user panel meetings,
d) input from WP3 ‘s intermediate results during the concept generation process.
D3.1 -- Design guidelines for children-robot interaction for learning and playful activities
The document describes the conceptual design phase of the IROMEC project, which produced a concept of robotic toys with a strong emphasis on construction, expression and social mediation. The concept will drive the developmental process of a modular robotic platform and therefore can be intended as a guideline or a heuristic to compose and maintain the vision of the project.
D4.1 -- Robotic system definition report
This document transfers the input from design phase, user panel discussions and play scenario description into a first definition of the robot structure and functionality. Together with the definition of IROMEC play scenarios (D2.1) this will form the input to the next round of user panels in order to get both concepts confirmed. Beside of definition of the robot system this document also gives a first overview on safety issues and lists the relevant standards.
D5.1 -- Critical Factors in robot assisted play in learning and therapy
This deliverable includes and examines all the factors related to the crucial and important points involved in robot mediated playing activities of children with disabilities. The deliverable is intended as a background work to study the possible use and effects of IROMEC as a tool for therapy and education of children with disabilities; as such, it is also a scientific and methodological source not only for IROMEC researchers, but also for teachers, educators and rehabilitation professionals in the field.
The term ‘Critical Factors’ refers to all the aspects that can influence the development of a robot system acting as a social mediator in a play environment. Factors that deserve consideration in planning, developing and carrying out robot mediated education and rehabilitation activities addressed to children with disabilities have been clustered around five main headings:
1. Factors related to Play
2. Factors related to the Individual
3. Factors related to the Context
4. Factors related to Technology and Robotics
5. Factors related to Methodology
Following a multidisciplinary approach, each cluster has been studied in-depth within its typical disciplines; factors no. 2 and 3 have been related to the domains and the declaratory statements of the International Classification of Functioning – version for Children and Youth
(ICF-CY), to be soon released by the World Health Organisation.
IROMEC 