The spring 2022 seed grant awardees are:

• Charles "Clint" Zeagler, senior research scientist, Institute of People and Technology and program manager for the Wearable Computing Center
• Omer Inan, associate professor and Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Sonia Chernova, associate professor in the School of Interactive Computing
• Ye Zhao, assistant professor in the George Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
• Zsolt Kira, assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing

The primary objective of the IRIM/IPaT Aware Home seed grant program is to spark a revitalization of healthcare robotics research in IPaT’s Aware Home.

The Aware Home Research Initiative (AHRI) at the Georgia Institute of Technology is an interdisciplinary research endeavor aimed at addressing the fundamental technical, design, and social challenges for people in a home setting. Central to this research is the Aware Home, a 3-story, 5040 square foot facility designed to facilitate research, while providing an authentic home environment.

Proposals to develop infrastructure (including software) that will support interdisciplinary healthcare robotics research were encouraged, as were proposals that develop research areas that are not well represented at Georgia Tech.

Facilities in the Aware Home include a mobile manipulator with a bimanual torso (Clearpath mobile platform, with a pair of Kinova robot arms, and computer vision system) as well as a network of “smart home” sensing technologies. These platforms will be available for use by projects funded under this program.

One goal for these seed grants is to strengthen collaborative and interdisciplinary efforts between IPaT and IRIM.