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Welcome to the Aware Home

Generally, people spend a good amount of time in their home performing everyday activities like: sleeping, eating, cooking, relaxing, entertaining, and so on; thus, it comes as no surprise that the home plays a key role in our health, lifestyle, and well-being. The Aware Home Research Initiative (AHRI) at the Georgia Institute of Technology is an interdisciplinary research endeavor aimed at addressing the fundamental technical, design, and social challenges for people in a home setting. Central to this research is the Aware Home, a 3-story, 5040 square foot facility designed to facilitate research, while providing an authentic home environment.

Stretch Robot Pitch Competition

The Stretch Robot Pitch Competition, sponsored by TechSAge RERC, in collaboration with Hello Robot, AI-CARING and IPaT, is seeking innovative and creative hardware or software solutions to support individuals aging with disabilities by using the Stretch^TM robot. Developed by Hello Robot, Stretch is an open source mobile manipulator with reaching, grasping, and sensing capabilities to support people with a wide range of tasks.

Purpose: To engage students at Georgia Tech to generate novel design concepts for Stretch that address the needs of individuals aging with disabilities.

Submission Requirements:

• 2 page proposal that highlights need/use case, methods/approach, and concept.
  • Need/Use Case: identify a need for individuals aging with disabilities, state how the proposed design product (software and/or hardware innovation with Stretch) addresses the need, and the expected significance/implications of the design. 
  • Methods/Approach: Design process, considerations, and how you will utilize Stretch. Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged!
  • Concept: Detailed description of concept, including pictures or graphics, if applicable
• Pitch video (< 3 minutes) that provides an overview of you proposed design concept. Can be a video or PowerPoint with audio recording.
• *See submission guidelines for full details and judging criteria 

Award: 

• First Place: $1000 cash award plus the opportunity develop and test concept in collaboration with researchers in GT’s Aware Home in Spring 2026 (via independent study course)
• Honorable Mentions: Cash awards at $500 each.

Important dates: 

• Deadline: November 2, 2025 (11:59PM)
• Independent Study Course: Spring 2026
• Present at GT Robotics Research Showcase: April 2026

Eligibility: This competition is open to all currently enrolled at Georgia Tech (undergraduate and graduate). Contestants may enter submissions individually or as a team. This competition is for pitching new ideas for Stretch. We strongly discourage proposals about work that has already been done with Stretch. If you’re unsure about this, please contact us with your initial idea to confirm.

About our sponsors: TechSAge is a collaborative research center based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Georgia State University dedicated to understanding the needs of, and developing supportive technologies for, people aging with long-term vision, hearing, and mobility disabilities. AI-CARING is a collaborative research institute, which includes Georgia Tech, that is focused on developing the next generation of personalized, collaborative Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to support older adults and their network of care partners. Institute for People and Technology (IPaT) is an Interdisciplinary Research Institute at Georgia Tech offering a unique people-first approach to research and innovation; IPaT supports the Aware Home Living Lab and resident Stretch robot.

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