University of Missouri-Columbia REU 2012
Andriod Speech Interface to a Home Robot

Abstract

      A growing elderly population and shortages of nursing staff create a need for innovative technologies in eldercare. The use of a home robot to assist with daily tasks, such as fetching objects, is one such example. However, there is also need for effective and convenient human robot interaction in this scenario, which a simple speech interface may provide. We investigated the use of the built-in speech recognition in Android phones for the fetch task, as well as the various methods of implementing a successful and efficient two-way server-client connection over an appropriate and practical type of wireless network between a smartphone and a home robot. An Android application was developed which utilizes the underlying network and process communication system to support its use. Finally, tests were performed comparing the accuracy of speech recognition on the Android phone for older and younger adult voices.