1,146 research outputs found

    Overcoming barriers and increasing independence: service robots for elderly and disabled people

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    This paper discusses the potential for service robots to overcome barriers and increase independence of elderly and disabled people. It includes a brief overview of the existing uses of service robots by disabled and elderly people and advances in technology which will make new uses possible and provides suggestions for some of these new applications. The paper also considers the design and other conditions to be met for user acceptance. It also discusses the complementarity of assistive service robots and personal assistance and considers the types of applications and users for which service robots are and are not suitable

    Case Study on Human-Robot Interaction of the Remote-Controlled Service Robot for Elderly and Disabled Care

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    The tendency of continuous aging of the population and the increasing number of people with mobility difficulties leads to increased research in the field of Assistive Service Robotics. These robots can help with daily life tasks such as reminding to take medications, serving food and drinks, controlling home appliances and even monitoring health status. When talking about assisting people in their homes, it should be noted that they will, most of the time, have to communicate with the robot themselves and be able to manage it so that they can get the most out of the robot's services. This research is focused on different methods of remote control of a mobile robot equipped with robotic manipulator. The research investigates in detail methods based on control via gestures, voice commands, and web-based graphical user interface. The capabilities of these methods for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) have been explored in terms of usability. In this paper, we introduce a new version of the robot Robco 19, new leap motion sensor control of the robot and a new multi-channel control system. The paper presents methodology for performing the HRI experiments from human perception and summarizes the results in applications of the investigated remote control methods in real life scenarios

    The Middlesex University rehabilitation robot

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    This paper outlines the historical developments of Wheelchair-Mounted Robot Arms (WMRA's) and then focuses on the ongoing research at Middlesex to develop a low-cost aid to daily living for users with high-level quadriplegia. A detailed review is given explaining the design specification. It describes the construction of the robotic device and its control architecture. The prototype robot used several gesture recognition and other input systems. The prototype has been tested on disabled and non-disabled users with positive feedback. They observed that it was easy to use, but issues about speed of operation were resolved after further development. The robot has a payload of greater than 1kg with a maximum reach of 0.7–0.9m. Published by the Taylor & Francis Publishing Group, this publication is one of the only journals to cover the multi-disciplinary area of medical technology research. Currently, research bids are being formulated with the School of Computing Science to continue this research

    The astronaut and the banana peel: An EVA retriever scenario

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    To prepare for the problem of accidents in Space Station activities, the Extravehicular Activity Retriever (EVAR) robot is being constructed, whose purpose is to retrieve astronauts and tools that float free of the Space Station. Advanced Decision Systems is at the beginning of a project to develop research software capable of guiding EVAR through the retrieval process. This involves addressing problems in machine vision, dexterous manipulation, real time construction of programs via speech input, and reactive execution of plans despite the mishaps and unexpected conditions that arise in uncontrolled domains. The problem analysis phase of this work is presented. An EVAR scenario is used to elucidate major domain and technical problems. An overview of the technical approach to prototyping an EVAR system is also presented

    Computer Access Technologies for Controlling Assistive Robotic Manipulators: Potentials and Challenges

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    One of the most challenging barriers to a successful application of the assistive robots is how to enable users who have special needs to interact with the robot aids in an efficient and comfortable manner, since the conventional control method using a traditional joystick combined with buttons and/or knobs demands fine motor control and good dexterity resulting in cognitive and physical workload. Adopting computer access technology, which has provided an alternative means to allow people who have a wide range of special needs to independently access their computer, can be a practical solution to this issue. In this paper, we reviewed and discussed the potentials and challenges of computer access technologies as an alternative control method for controlling assistive robotic manipulators, focusing on most widely adopted interventions in the clinical settings, including alternative pointing, keyboard-only access, switch scanning interface and speech recognition

    Sensor-based navigating mobile robots for people with disabilities

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    People with severe physical disabilities need help with everyday tasks, such as getting dressed, eating, brushing their teeth, scratching themselves, drinking, etc. They also need support to be able to work. They are usually helped by one or more persona

    Rehabilitation Technologies: Biomechatronics Point of View

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    The design and evaluation of an interface and control system for a scariculated rehabilitation robot arm

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    This thesis is concerned with the design and development of a prototype implementation of a Rehabilitation Robotic manipulator based on a novel kinematic configuration. The initial aim of the research was to identify appropriate design criteria for the design of a user interface and control system, and for the subsequent evaluation of the manipulator prototype. This led to a review of the field of rehabilitation robotics, focusing on user evaluations of existing systems. The review showed that the design objectives of individual projects were often contradictory, and that a requirement existed for a more general and complete set of design criteria. These were identified through an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems, including an assessment of manipulator performances, commercial success and user feedback. The resulting criteria were used for the design and development of a novel interface and control system for the Middlesex Manipulator - the novel scariculated robotic system. A highly modular architecture was adopted, allowing the manipulator to provide a level of adaptability not approached by existing rehabilitation robotic systems. This allowed the interface to be configured to match the controlling ability and input device selections of individual users. A range of input devices was employed, offering variation in communication mode and bandwidth. These included a commercial voice recognition system, and a novel gesture recognition device. The later was designed using electrolytic tilt sensors, the outputs of which were encoded by artificial neural networks. These allowed for control of the manipulator through head or hand gestures. An individual with spinal-cord injury undertook a single-subject user evaluation of the Middlesex Manipulator over a period of four months. The evaluation provided evidence for the value of adaptability presented by the user interface. It was also shown that the prototype did not currently confonn to all the design criteria, but allowed for the identification of areas for design improvements. This work led to a second research objective, concerned with the problem of configuring an adaptable user interface for a specific individual. A novel form of task analysis is presented within the thesis, that allows the relative usability of interface configurations to be predicted based upon individual user and input device characteristics. An experiment was undertaken with 6 subjects performing 72 tasks runs with 2 interface configurations controlled by user gestures. Task completion times fell within the range predicted, where the range was generated using confidence intervals (α = 0.05) on point estimates of user and device characteristics. This allowed successful prediction over all task runs of the relative task completion times of interface configurations for a given user

    Personal Autonomy Rehabilitation in Home Environments by a Portable Assistive Robot

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    Increasingly disabled and elderly people with mobility problems want to live autonomously in their home environment. They are motivated to use robotic aids to perform tasks by themselves, avoiding permanent nurse or family assistant supervision. They must find means to rehabilitate their abilities to perform daily life activities (DLAs), such as eating, shaving, or drinking. These means may be provided by robotic aids that incorporate possibilities and methods to accomplish common tasks, aiding the user in recovery of partial or complete autonomy. Results are highly conditioned by the system's usability and potential. The developed portable assistive robot ASIBOT helps users perform most of these tasks in common living environments. Minimum adaptations are needed to provide the robot with mobility throughout the environment. The robot can autonomously climb from one surface to another, fixing itself to the best place to perform each task. When the robot is attached to its wheelchair, it can move along with it as a bundle. This paper presents the work performed with the ASIBOT in the area of rehabilitation robotics. First, a brief description of the ASIBOT system is given. A description of tests that have been performed with the robot and several impaired users is given. Insight into how these experiences have influenced our research efforts, especially, in home environments, is also included. A description of the test bed that has been developed to continue research on performing DLAs by the use of robotic aids, a kitchen environment, is given. Relevant conclusions are also included.This work has been supported by the CAM Project S2009/DPI-1559/ROBOCITY2030 I
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