Robot for assisting the integration of the disabled

The author describes the RAID project (December 1991-August 1993) and its successor EPI-RAID (December 1993-March 1996), which are EU funded projects under the TIDE initiative. The aim of RAID is to develop a robotic workstation that will enable severely physically disabled people to carry out CAD, clerical and accountancy tasks without the need to have an assistant present. The first RAID system underwent clinical trials at Orup-a rehabilitation centre in Sweden in May 1993 and resulted in a sufficiently positive response from users to encourage the TIDE office to support EPI-RAID as a follow-on project.<
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