The main objective of the AIDE project is to contribute to the improvement of the user-technology interface in order to increase the degree of independence of the user.
Coordinated by the Department of Systems Engineering and Automation of the Miguel Hernández University (UMH), Nicolás García, and finance by the Horizon 2020 program of the European Union. The program involves institutions and companies from Italy, Germany, Great Britain and Spain , including Robotnik, which has collaborated in the design and manufacture of the Summit-XL STEEL mobile robot and that is the basis of the robotic wheelchair on which the project is centered.
Specifically, it is a wheelchair that through sensors is able to move autonomously or controlled by the user. The chair incorporates an exoskeleton, a robotic arm coupled to the arm and hand, which has sensors that facilitate mobility to the user, enabling him to grab and move objects.
The novelty of this robotic application is that it allows people with different degrees of disability to recover movements to eat, drink and wash, as well as move and improve communication with family and friends, using standard Internet services such as email, Skype, WhatsApp and social networks.
The AIDE system is a project of the European Horizon 2020 program and has been evaluated by 17 people with different degrees of disability at the Cedar Foundation in Belfast (United Kingdom) with excellent results.