IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2009 - 20

BY
NaNcY SalIm

Changing the World,
One Robot
at a Time

W

Corrina Lathan

Photo courtesy
of corrina Lathan

EnginEEr
and
EntrEprEnEur
EnhancEs
human
pErformancE
through
tEchnology

Photo courtesy of anthrotronix

20

IEEE womEn In EngInEErIng magazInE

Whoever thought that one day there would be a robot to
help children with physical disabilities? Corrina Lathan
developed a robot that motivates children with physical
disabilities. CosmoBot is teaching children with speech,
language, and other developmental disabilities how to
express themselves. Built to withstand active play, CosmoBot looks like a spunky sidekick from a science fiction
movie, with fully mobile appendages, motorized wheels
beneath its feet, and a mouth that moves. The robot captures attention by mimicking a child's movements and its
voice and can guide the child through educational and
therapeutic activities under the direction of a therapist.
A user controls CosmoBot with wearable sensors, by voice
or with a mission control station, depending on the
therapy. The machine is also wired to accept updated software and inputs from the Internet. The
robot has three modes a therapist can activate.
In the Live Play mode, CosmoBot responds immediately to controls or input. For example, a
physical therapist will ask a child to cause the
robot to raise its left arm by having the child raise
his or her own left arm.
The robot was developed with support from the
National Science Foundation's (NSF) Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and the Department of Education's Rehabilitation Engineering Research
Center (RERC) on Telerehabilitation. The SBIR program
is a set-aside program for federal agencies that devotes
2.5% of their extramural budget to domestic, small-business concerns for research or research and development
efforts that have the potential for commercialization.
By providing grant money, and not a loan or equity that
must be repaid, the program provides financial support
to small businesses with innovative ideas.
Lathan's background includes extensive research,
teaching and consulting in the areas of biomedical and
human performance engineering, human factors, and
education. Prior to founding her company, AnthroTronix,
a human factors engineering firm, she was an associate professor of biomedical engineering at The CathoDigital
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ObjectIdentifier
Identifier10.1109/MWIE.2009.933445
10.1109/MWE.2009.000000

june 2009

1942-065X/09/$25.00©2009IEEE



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2009

IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2009 - Cover1
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2009 - Cover2
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2009 - 1
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IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2009 - 40
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2009 - Cover3
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2009 - Cover4
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