INTRODUCTION TO KASPAR ROBOT : A COOPERATIVE DYADIC PLAY AMONG CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

Shaikh Mehraj Habib Kanu Chandan Prasad S. Mulla shahrukh Department of Electronics Engineering, Mumbai University,
M .H. Saboo Siddik College of Engineering Mumbai, Maharashtra 400 012 India
mhsmehrajs@gmail.com kanu.chandan20@gmail.com srmjack@gmail.com

Abstract- This article describes a pilot study in which children with autism are trested with the humanoid robot. Among many robots available in todays world , KASPAR robot is choosen In this report. Also in this report children with autism are alternated between playing a co-operative, dyadic video game with an adult human and playing the same game with an autonomous humanoid robot. One possible explanation for this result is that the childrens intermediary play session with the humanoid robot had an impact on their subsequent play session with the adult. Additionally, while the autistic children saw the robotic partner as being more interesting and entertaining, they played more collaboratively and cooperated better with the human adult.

of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH), which is recommended to start as young as possible while the childs brain is presumably most receptive to growth.

A. Related Work
Robots were first used for autism therapy in 1976 by pediatrician Sylvia Weir and psychotherapist Ricky Emanuel with a mobile turtle-like robot LOGO at MIT[1]. However, it was not until the late 1990s and early 2000s, as autism rates continued to escalate, that multiple labs adopted this topic for research. One of the earliest projects is the AURORA project, started in 1998 at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK. Their 1999 paper [2] discusses their initial philosophy based on the TEACCH method where the teacher guides the childs behavior to teach communication and proper behavior. Their first trials involved a small Labo-1 robot which they describe as resembling a sturdy flat-topped buggy. Dautenhaums 2003 paper [3] focused on the different roles robots can play; in their autism research, the robots roles are: therapeutic playmate, social mediator and model social agent. For a 2005 paper [4], they had moved on to a 45 cm humanoid robot called Robota, which they did a longitudinal study on with four children over several months at a school. They defined four behavioral criteria to evaluate based on the video data: eye gaze, touch, imitation and nearness to robot. There were three phases over the four monthsfamiliarization, learning, with the teacher showing how the robot could imitate his movements (in reality a puppet mode where the investigator controlled the robot via laptop) and free interaction. A 2004 paper [5] extended this study, comparing childrens response to different appearances of robot

I. INTRODUCTION
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disability which according to the DSM IV-R [3] is characterized by the presence of markedly abnormal development in social interactionand communication and a restricted repertoire of activity and interests. Specific diagnostic criteria include delay in or lack of spoken language as well as impairments in the use of nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression and gestures. By definition, the onset of autism is prior to the age of 3 years, although its milder version, Aspergers, which does not have cognitive development or language delays, is generally diagnosed in older children. According to the latest CDC figures, an average of 1 in 110 children in the US have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD)[4]. The main form of treatment is behavioral therapy, such as Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) or Treatment and Education

one with a pretty-girl appearance and one with a featureless, masked face. They found that initially the children preferred the plain robot though over the course of the longitudinal study they became used to both robots. This backed up their hypothesis which was based on an assumption that children with autism preferred a predictable environment and simple designs. These studies led to the design of another robot, KASPAR [6], which was minimally expressive with a face influenced by comics design and Japanese Noh theatre. Rather than go into details about trials, they showed several illustrative uses including how a therapist would incorporate them. In their table comparing KASPAR with the earlier robots, Labo-1 and Robota, there were more intended therapeutic uses including turn-taking, joint attention, collaborative activities, imitation of hand gestures, proactive behaviour, initiative taking, mediation between child and other persons via the robot, and body awareness. Probably the most famous autism-related robot (due to its dancing abilities as shown on You Tube[12]) is Keepon, developed by teams at NIICT in Japan and Carnegie Mellon University. Keepon is described as having a yellow snowman-like body and is only 120 mm tall. Its eyes are color CCD cameras with wideangle lens and its nose is a microphone. Its body is made of silicone rubber and it has four degrees of freedom: nodding, turning, rocking, and bobbing.

A. KASPAR DETAILS
This is KASPAR - which stands for KINEMATICS AND SYNCHRONISATION IN PERSONAL ASSISTANT ROBOTICS.KASPAR is minimallyexpressive, therapeutic robot - the result of years o extensive research set in motion by Dr Kerstin Dautenhahn, Professor of Artificial Intelligence and the Adaptive Systems Group at the University's School of Computer Science.

Figure 2. The KASPAR robot Kaspar has 6 degrees of freedom in the head and neck, 2 in the eyes that are fitted with video cameras, a mouth capable of opening and smiling, and 4 in the each arm. The face is a silicon-rubber mask, which is supported by an aluminium frame [Blow, et al., 2006]. It has immobile legs and fixed feet and hands. B.MOVEMENTS AND EXPRESSIONS OF KASPAR KASPAR has motors in his face, neck and arms, allowing these joints and features to: move like human limbs produce facial expressions make gestures perform body movements Special care was taken to make sure that KASPAR remained a 'minimally-expressive' robot - meaning that gestures and movements are simplified and easy for children to understand and interpret. This design is different from cartoon characters with exaggerated features. Possibilities of facial actuation include: Eyes: Pan and tilt, possibly supporting mutual gaze and joint attention Eyelids: Blinking (full or partial, at various rates)

B. typs of robots in autism

There are mainly four types of robots used in autism treatment. The four robots were popchilla, keepon, kaspar and cosmobot.

II. EXPERIMENT

Lips/mouth: Actuators for lips to change the shape of the mouth, e.g. opening/closing of mouth Torso: the torso can turn, indicating that it experienced an 'unpleasant' interaction The minimally-expressive facial features of KASPAR have been designed in order not to 'overwhelm' the observer/interaction partner with social cues but to allow him/her to individually interpret the expressions as 'happy', 'neutral', 'surprised', etc. Tactile sensors are attached to the hands, feet, chest, arms and face so that the robot can respond to being touched. This allows us to explore ways of teaching autistic children about socially-acceptable tactile interaction and the cause and effect of touch on emotional states, i.e. when children hit KASPAR and the robot turns away, covering its face and saying it has been hurt. KASPAR cannot understand speech, but can produce words and sentences in order to provide feedback about the child's actions and engage them in play.

IV. REFERENCE
[1]G. Pioggia, M. L. Sica, M. Ferro, R. Igliozzi, F. Muratori, A. Ahluwalia, and D. DeRossi, "Human-Robot Interaction in Autism: FACE, an Android-based Social Therapy,"in Proceedings of the 16th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2007, pp. 605-612. [2]I. Werry and K. Dautenhahn, "Applying Mobile Robot Technology to theRehabilitation of Autistic Children," in Proceedings of SIRS99, 7th Symp on IntelligentRobotic Systems, 1999, pp. 265-272. [3]I. Werry, K. Dautenhahn, B. Ogden, and W. Harwin, "Can Social Interaction Skills BeTaught by a Social Agent? The Role of a Robotic Mediator in Autism Therapy," inCognitive Technology: Instruments of Mind, ser. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, M. Beynon, C. Nehaniv, and K. Dautenhahn, Eds. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin /Heidelberg, July 2001, vol. 2117, ch. 6, pp. 57-74. [4] K. Dautenhahn, "Roles and functions of robots in human society: implications fromresearch in autism therapy," Robotica, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 443-452, August 2003. [5]B. Robins, K. Dautenhahn, T. Boekhorst, and A. Billard, "Robotic assistants intherapy and education of children with autism: can a small humanoid robot help encourage social interaction skills?" Univers. Access Inf. Soc., vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 105-120, December 2005 [6]B. Robins, K. Dautenhahn, R. . Boekhorst, and A. Billard, "Robots as Assistive Technology - Does Appearance Matter?" inProceedings of the 13th IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Communication (RO-MAN 2004), September 2004 [7]K. Dautenhahn, C. L. Nehaniv, M. L. Walters, B. Robins, H. KoseBagci, N. A.Mirza, and M. Blow, "KASPAR a minimally expressive humanoid robot for human-robot interaction research," Applied Bionics and Biomechanics, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 369-397,2006

III. SPECIFICATION
More DOF i.e 12 DOF Less weight i.e 9-10 kg Attractive so that autism childrens gets benifited

IV. APPLICATION
Mainly used for children with autism Can be used for robot based interview