Despite the growth of physically assistive robotics (PAR) research over the last decade, nearly half of PAR user studies do not involve participants with the target disabilities. There are several reasons for this -- recruitment challenges, small sample sizes, and transportation logistics -- all influenced by systemic barriers that people with disabilities face. However, it is well-established that working with end-users results in technology that better addresses their needs and integrates with their lived circumstances. In this paper, we reflect on multiple approaches we have taken to working with people with motor impairments across the design, development, and evaluation of three PAR projects: (a) assistive feeding with a robot arm; (b) assistive teleoperation with a mobile manipulator; and (c) shared control with a robot arm. We discuss these approaches to working with users along three dimensions -- individual- vs. community-level insight, logistic burden on end-users vs. researchers, and benefit to researchers vs. community -- and share recommendations for how other PAR researchers can incorporate users into their work.

翻译：尽管过去十年物理辅助机器人（PAR）研究不断增长，但近一半的PAR用户研究并未涉及目标残疾群体的参与者。造成这一现象的原因包括：招募困难、样本量小以及交通物流问题——这些均受残疾人面临的系统性障碍影响。然而，已有充分证据表明，与最终用户合作能够开发出更契合其需求、更融入其生活境况的技术。本文反思了我们在三个PAR项目的设计、开发与评估中与运动功能障碍人士合作的多种方法：（a）基于机械臂的辅助进食；（b）基于移动操作平台的辅助遥操作；（c）机械臂的共享控制。我们沿三个维度——个体与群体层面的洞察力、最终用户与研究者的物流负担、研究者与社区的收益——探讨这些用户合作方法，并为其他PAR研究者如何将用户融入其研究工作提出建议。