Cyber Physical System for Continuous Evaluation of Fall Risks to Enable Aging-In-Place

Every year, one out of three adults over the age of 65 falls, and about 30% of the falls result in moderate to severe injuries. The high rate of fall-related hospitalizations and the fact that falls are a major source of morbidity and mortality in older adults have motivated extensive interdisciplinary clinical and engineering research with a focus on fall prevention. This research is aimed at developing a medical Cyber Physical System (CPS) composed of a human supervised mobile robot and ambient intelligence sensors to provide continuous evaluation of environmental risks in the home. As a preventive measure to avoid falls, we propose use of mobile robots to detect possible fall risks inside a house. As a step-up to that, we also define a control framework for intelligent, networked mobile robots to semi-autonomously perform assistive and preventive tasks. This framework is integrated in a smart home that provides monitoring and control capabilities of environmental conditions such as objects blocking pathways or uneven surfaces. The main outcome of this work is the realization of this system at Worcester Polytechnic Institute\u27s (WPI) @Home testbed

Cyber-Physical Production Testbed: Literature Review and Concept Development

Many researchers use virtual and simulation-based testbed technology for research in production and maintenance optimization. Although, the virtual environment produces good results, it cannot imitate the unexpected changes that occur in actual production. There are very few physical testbeds emulating actual production environment. The aim of this paper is to present a concept of a cyber-physical production testbed based on review of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) testbeds in research. The testbed consists of a semi-automatic production line equipped with system monitoring tools, data analysis capabilities and commercial software. This testbed will be used for demonstration of data acquisition for production and maintenance prioritization. Additionally, the testbed will be used for research in IoT platforms for production optimization

Computer Simulation of Human-Robot Collaboration in the Context of Industry Revolution 4.0

The essential role of robot simulation for industrial robots, in particular the collaborative robots is presented in this chapter. We begin by discussing the robot utilization in the industry which includes mobile robots, arm robots, and humanoid robots. The author emphasizes the application of collaborative robots in regard to industry revolution 4.0. Then, we present how the collaborative robot utilization in the industry can be achieved through computer simulation by means of virtual robots in simulated environments. The robot simulation presented here is based on open dynamic engine (ODE) using anyKode Marilou. The author surveys on the use of dynamic simulations in application of collaborative robots toward industry 4.0. Due to the challenging problems which related to humanoid robots for collaborative robots and behavior in human-robot collaboration, the use of robot simulation may open the opportunities in collaborative robotic research in the context of industry 4.0. As developing a real collaborative robot is still expensive and time-consuming, while accessing commercial collaborative robots is relatively limited; thus, the development of robot simulation can be an option for collaborative robotic research and education purposes

Developing a Home Service Robot Platform for Smart Homes

The purpose of this work is to develop a testbed for a smart home environment integrated with a home service robot (ASH Testbed) as well as to build home service robot platforms. The architecture of ASH Testbed was proposed and implemented based on ROS (Robot Operating System). In addition, two robot platforms, ASCCHomeBots, were developed using an iRobot Create base and a Pioneer base. They are equipped with capabilities such as mapping, autonomous navigation. They are also equipped with the natural human interfaces including hand-gesture recognition using a RGB-D camera, online speech recognition through cloud computing services provided by Google, and local speech recognition based on PocketSphinx. Furthermore, the Pioneer based ASCCHomeBot was developed along with an open audition system. This allows the robot to serve the elderly living alone at home. We successfully implemented the software for this system that realizes robot services and audition services for high level applications such as telepresence video conference, sound source position estimation, multiple source speech recognition, and human assisted sound classification. Our experimental results validated the proposed framework and the effectiveness of the developed robots as well as the proposed testbed.Electrical Engineerin

Regulating Healthcare Robots: Maximizing Opportunities While Minimizing Risks

Some of the most dynamic areas of robotics research and development today are healthcare applications. Robot-assisted surgery, robotic nurses, in-home rehabilitation, and eldercare robots\u27 are all demonstrating rapidly iterating innovation. Rising healthcare labor costs and an aging population will increase demand for these human surrogates and enhancements. However, like many emerging technologies, robots are difficult to place within existing regulatory frameworks. For example, the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) seeks to ensure that medical devices (few of which are consumer devices) are safe, the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules apply to data collected by health care providers (but not most consumer-facing hardware or software developers), and state licensing statutes oversee the conduct of doctors and nurses who, heretofore, have all been human beings

Artificial Vision Algorithms for Socially Assistive Robot Applications: A Review of the Literature

Today, computer vision algorithms are very important for different fields and applications, such as closed-circuit television security, health status monitoring, and recognizing a specific person or object and robotics. Regarding this topic, the present paper deals with a recent review of the literature on computer vision algorithms (recognition and tracking of faces, bodies, and objects) oriented towards socially assistive robot applications. The performance, frames per second (FPS) processing speed, and hardware implemented to run the algorithms are highlighted by comparing the available solutions. Moreover, this paper provides general information for researchers interested in knowing which vision algorithms are available, enabling them to select the one that is most suitable to include in their robotic system applicationsBeca Conacyt Doctorado No de CVU: 64683

Towards explainability in robotics: A performance analysis of a cloud accountability system

[EN] Understanding why a robot's behaviour was triggered is a growing concern to get human-acceptable social robots. Every action, expected and unexpected, should be able to be explained and audited. The formal model proposed here deals with different information levels, from low-level data, such as sensors' data logging; to high-level data that provide an explanation of the robot's behaviour. This study examines the impact on the robot system of a custom log engine based on a custom ROS logging node and investigates pros and cons when used together with a NoSQL database locally and in a cloud environment. Results allow to characterize these alternatives and explore the best strategy for offering a fully log-based accountability engine that maximizes the mapping between robot behaviour and robot logs.SIInstituto Nacional de CiberseguridadMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovació

Reimagining Robotic Walkers For Real-World Outdoor Play Environments With Insights From Legged Robots: A Scoping Review

PURPOSE For children with mobility impairments, without cognitive delays, who want to participate in outdoor activities, existing assistive technology (AT) to support their needs is limited. In this review, we investigate the control and design of a selection of robotic walkers while exploring a selection of legged robots to develop solutions that address this gap in robotic AT. METHOD We performed a comprehensive literature search from four main databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and IEEE Xplore. The keywords used in the search were the following: “walker”, “rollator”, “smart walker”, “robotic walker”, “robotic rollator”. Studies were required to discuss the control or design of robotic walkers to be considered. A total of 159 papers were analyzed. RESULTS From the 159 papers, 127 were excluded since they failed to meet our inclusion criteria. The total number of papers analyzed included publications that utilized the same device, therefore we classified the remaining 32 studies into groups based on the type of robotic walker used. This paper reviewed 15 different types of robotic walkers. CONCLUSIONS The ability of many-legged robots to negotiate and transition between a range of unstructured substrates suggests several avenues of future consideration whose pursuit could benefit robotic AT, particularly regarding the present limitations of wheeled paediatric robotic walkers for children’s daily outside use. For more information: Kod*lab (link to kodlab.seas.upenn.edu

Sustainable technologies for older adults

: The exponential evolution of technology and the growth of the elderly population are two phenomena that will inevitably interact with increasing frequency in the future. This paper analyses scientific literature as a means of furthering progress in sustainable technology for senior living. We carried out a bibliometric analysis of papers published in this area and compiled by the Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus, examining the main participants and advances in the field from 2000 to the first quarter of 2021. The study describes some interesting research projects addressing three different aspects of older adults’ daily lives—health, daily activities and wellbeing—and policies to promote healthy aging and improve the sustainability of the healthcare system. It also looks at lines of research into transversal characteristics of technology. Our analysis showed that publications mentioning sustainability technologies for older adults have been growing progressively since the 2000s, but that the big increase in the number of research works in this area took place during the period 2016–2021. These more recent works show a tendency to study those factors that improve healthy aging, ensure the social inclusion of the elderly through technology and prolong the time in which they can live independent lives thanks to smart environments. Current research gaps in the literature are also discussed.: This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, (CSO2017-86747-R) and supported in part by the FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades-Agencia Estatal de Investigación, through the Smartlet and H2O Learn Projects under Grants TIN2017-85179-C3-1-R and PID2020-112584RB-C31, and in part by the Madrid Regional Government through the e-Madrid-CM Project under Grant S2018/TCS-4307