Design Performance Characteristics of a Social Robot Companion “<i>Arash</i>” for Pediatric Hospitals

Abstract

This paper presents the design process and construction of a mobile social robot companion “Arash” for educational and therapeutic intervention for children with chronic diseases; one which is based on their interests and needs. This study concentrates on children with cancer who suffer from physical pain caused by both the disease and its treatment. Moreover, cancer treatment causes emotional distress, which can reduce the efficiency of medications. Using social robots to interact with ill children in a hospital environment could decrease their distress, thereby improving the efficiency of the treatment. Arash is a 15 degrees-of-freedom cost effective humanoid mobile robot companion, designed and developed to interact with children ages 4 to 12 years old. The robot has five physical subsystems: head, arms, torso, waist, and the mobile-base. Based on the robot requirements and specifications, appropriate measures were generated and thoroughly evaluated. An important and novel concept is the robots appearance, selected based on a survey taken from 50 children with chronic diseases at three pediatric hospitals in the city of Tehran. Based on these criteria and needs, Arash was designed, constructed, modified, and developed to operate in pediatric hospital environments.