Hello Robot has received a Phase IIB Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, to advance its Stretch mobile manipulator for older adults with mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer's dementia. The award totals nearly $3 million over three years, running from September 22, 2026 through May 2029, and is intended to accelerate commercialization of Stretch for in-home and in-care use. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is the research partner.
Key takeaways
- Work targets three capability areas: cognitive assistance (reminders, activity guidance, object finding), social engagement, and safety management covering mobility, hydration and daily routines.
- Development uses Stretch 4, introduced in May, with AI-powered language, planning, perception and voice interaction; the robot pairs a compact mobile base with a lightweight telescoping arm.
- Participatory design research will involve 60 older adults, care partners and professional care staff; care-setting evaluations will have staff operate Stretch over an eight-week period.
- Testing runs in the McKechnie Family LIFE Home and with Lindsey Communities, assessing effectiveness, usability, reliability, trust, acceptance and safe operation around older adults.
- Principal investigators are Dr Aaron Edsinger of Hello Robot and Dr Wendy A. Rogers of Illinois; co-investigators include Dr Charlie Kemp, Dr Raksha Mudar and Dr Harshal Mahajan.
The project's stated goal is a reliable, context-aware and commercially viable assistive robot that increases autonomy for older adults while supporting family and professional caregivers — a requirements-definition effort relevant to anyone building service robots for unstructured human environments.
Source: Robotics & Automation News · Published 2026-10-04T09:41:04 · “Hello Robot awarded $3 million to develop Stretch robot for elder care”