Glossary

Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.

13 results found in robotics.

Assistive Robot (Personal Assistive Robot, Socially Assistive Robot, Caregiving Robot)
A robot designed to assist people with disabilities, older adults, or those with chronic conditions in performing daily activities or maintaining independence. Assistive robots may provide physical as…
Assistive Robotics (Rehabilitation Robotics, Assistive Robots)
Robotic systems designed to assist people with disabilities in performing daily tasks, enhancing independence, and improving quality of life. Assistive robotics includes robotic arms for manipulation,…
Autonomous Navigation Robot (Autonomous guide robot, Self-navigating robot)
A mobile robot that plans and executes its own path through an environment to deliver a user or payload to a chosen destination, using onboard sensors (LiDAR, cameras, IMU) and a map for localisation,…
Avatar Robot (Robot Avatar, Telepresence Avatar)
A physical robot that acts as a remote proxy for a human operator, enabling them to interact with a distant environment through vision, audio, and often manipulation or movement. Avatar robots extend …
Care Technology (Care robots, Robots for care, Assistive care technology)
Technology designed to support caregiving activities in institutional or home settings, including robotic systems, monitoring devices, and digital tools that assist care workers and care recipients. C…
Collaborative Robot (Cobot, Co-Robot)
A robot designed to work alongside humans in shared workspaces, as opposed to traditional industrial robots that operate in isolation. Cobots are of particular interest for workplace inclusion because…
Drone Accessibility (UAV Accessibility, Accessible Drone Piloting)
The design and adaptation of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and their control interfaces to be usable by people with disabilities. This includes providing alternative input methods such as voice co…
Exoskeleton (Robotic Exoskeleton, Wearable Exoskeleton)
A wearable mechanical or robotic device that fits around a part of the body — typically the hand, arm, or leg — and provides powered movement assistance, resistance, or guided motion. In rehabilitatio…
Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)
The interdisciplinary field studying how humans and robots communicate, collaborate, and coexist. In accessibility contexts, HRI research explores how robots can be designed to support people with dis…
Motion-Based AAC (Physical Expressive AAC, Expressive Sidekick)
An emerging form of augmentative and alternative communication that uses physical movement of objects or robotic devices to convey nonverbal communicative intent during conversations. Unlike tradition…
Occupancy Grid Map (2D occupancy grid, Grid map)
A representation of an environment as a grid of cells, where each cell is labelled as walkable (free space), non-walkable (obstacle or wall), or unknown. Occupancy grid maps are a standard data struct…
Pet Robot (Robotic Pet, Zoomorphic Robot, Companion Pet Robot)
A socially interactive robot designed to resemble and behave like an animal companion — most famously PARO (a baby harp seal) and AIBO (a robotic dog) — used to provide emotional comfort, reduce lonel…
Social Robot (Companion Robot, Assistive Social Robot)
A robot designed to interact with people in socially meaningful ways, using verbal communication, gestures, and responsive behaviors to engage users. In accessibility contexts, social robots like Soft…