Robots assemble cars and search the floor of the Indian Ocean miles below the surface. But they can also help elderly or disabled people with more routine tasks of daily living. U.S. Rep. David Cicilline visited the CIT for a look at how robotic assistive technologies are becoming more useful and can be more conveniently controlled.

Congressman David Cicilline, a 1983 Brown graduate, returned to campus Thursday, April 17, 2014, to tour Brown’s robotics lab in the CIT building. He met with Chad Jenkins, associate professor of computer science, who discussed work he has been doing to develop assistive robotic technologies for people with disabilities.

Dr. Erna Milunka Kojic:

Jenkins demonstrated a system developed at Brown that enables users to remotely control robots over the Internet using a simple web browser. The interface can be used to control a variety of robotic devices, from off-the-shelf quadricopter drones to the sophisticated PR2, a robot designed for household tasks that Jenkins uses in his lab.

In a recent TED talk, Jenkins and Henry Evans, a California man paralyzed by a stroke, described how these technologies can bring new freedom and independence to people with physical disabilities.