Designing & developing QueBall, a robotic device for autism therapy

Abstract

It is known that children with autism can benefit from interacting with robotic devices. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA identifies around 1 in 68 American children as being on the autism spectrum. Other countries also have similar prevalence rates. Therefore, providing therapeutic devices is becoming of increasing importance. Here we address the problem of effectively designing and building a robotic device fit for this purpose. The robot we have designed uses a simple spherical morphology together with a collection of autonomous behaviors and controllable modalities. The platform, is robust, simple, safe, and provides a wide range of movement, visual, sound and touch interaction capabilities to encourage the child to learn and play.