EMERGENCE has announced a second Robotics for Frailty Challenge funding call. They are looking to fund research-driven proposals that engage with the themes which have emerged from the network’s requirement-gathering activities and which will advance the state of the art in robotics towards transforming health and social care, with an emphasis on real-world adoption and deployment.
The network is looking to fund:
1 large project (up to £50,000 at 80% FEC) and up to 5 smaller focused studies (each between £10,000 and £25,000 at 80% FEC)
Key areas which address gaps in the current research on assistive robotics and frailty:
Up to £50,000 funding projects to explore or develop one of the following:
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Safety for assistive robotics technologies aimed at people with lived experience of frailty (PWLEF), to enable long-term autonomy including areas such as fail-safe design, situation awareness, automated risk assessment and smart sensing
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Accessible Human-Robot Interaction, taking into consideration multi-modal and intuitive interaction to address cognitive, sensory and physical impairments.
£10,000 – £25,000 funding for focused studies to explore or develop:
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Regulatory Frameworks for deployment and integration of assistive robotics
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Benchmarking datasets to support the development of accessible HRI
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Scoping research
– When does an assistive robot become a medical device?
– What CPD is needed to support future care professionals?
– What are the challenges for enabling human agency in shared decision-making for assistive robotics technology to support PWLEF?
All projects should include a strong component of engagement with people with lived experience of frailty, health and social care professionals and relevant stakeholders.
Following attendance at a co-creation methodology workshop in Hertfordshire on 27th April 2023, participants will be eligible to apply for feasibility funding via the Robotics for Frailty Challenge Call.