2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The rapid increase in use of robots in medicine has been driven, in large part, by their ability to enhance surgical, logistical, and other utility and task oriented applications. Such types of robots are incredibly effective, and in many cases, can be “game-changing”, because they can provide clinicians with “super-human” capabilities. Another important, but less well known area of medical robotics, is assistive robotics, which has been advancing, but at a slower pace. The “weak-link” in development and adoption of assistive robotics is that for such assistive robots to be effective, they need to interact with, respond to, and adapt to the needs of the human/patient they assist.
The challenge in the design of assistive robots, is in selecting the right degree of realism that is required to make the assistant effective and accepted by the user. Temperament encapsulates this particular feature of how robots present themselves to the user. Assistive robots need to be able to judge whether a patient is introverted or extroverted, and know how to adapt and respond in the appropriate manner. This paper describes how inclusion of an instructional activity on “temperament” helps students understand the value of adding a human dimension to the design of devices and systems which interact with and assist patients with their activities of daily living.
The topic for this paper originated from Medical Robotics and Assistive Technologies, a popular elective course for senior level BME students at our university. The course, designed and delivered by one of the authors, has been offered every summer for the past six years. The course consists of lectures, labs, and workshops, where students, individually and in groups, learn about and explore different aspects of robotics. The course covers traditional topics in robotics, including kinematics, sensors and actuators, navigation, planning, haptics, and modes of human-robot-interaction (HRI). One unique feature of the course is that it also addresses design and implementation of assistive technologies. Assistive applications present students with human “stories” involving supporting people with cognitive and/or motor impairments, whether these are temporary due to injury or life-long as a result of a condition or an event, such as stroke. Indirectly, this material exposes BME students to manifestations of diversity, equity, and inclusivity.
The key active learning intervention implemented in the course revolves around analysis of a thoughtful article by Jerome Gropman, entitled Robots that Care. In this activity, students read, discuss, and reflect on not only the technical challenges involved in creating assistive robots, but also explore and reflect on how to implement and regulate the “temperament” of the robots.
Thematic analysis conducted on student reflections provides many important insights into how students view the design of assistive technologies, and how temperament plays a predominant role. Most surprisingly, a large number of students felt that temperament should be adjusted so that robots behave “human,” but not “too human.” This leads into the concept of the “uncanny valley” in the design of intelligent systems.
The paper addresses the impact of these observations and how they can be generalized to the design of medical technologies and systems which interact with humans. We also believe that the approach implemented in this work can be applied to other biomedical engineering courses. By providing context on how medical devices and systems are used by humans, and how the systems need to respond, this can enlighten students on the humanistic side of biomedical engineering.