Robotics  

With the latest version of the Fraunhofer Institute's Care-O-bot robot, the promise of a domestic robot seems much closer. The robot packs a lot of personality and functionality into its tightly designed platform.

The dream of a robot server and companion in your home is now a little closer thanks to a team of engineers and designers in Germany led by Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA with the Stuttgart-based design studios Phoenix Design and Schunk.

Since the late 1990's, the researchers have been developing the Care-O-bot model modular domestic robot.  Now, with the fourth iteration, the system is really beginning to take shape in a robot with, what very nearly might be called, a personality. The model is a significant step vs. the previous Care-O-bot version 3.

"The fourth generation of the Care-O-bot is not only more agile, modular and charming than its predecessors, but it also stands out through the use of cost-reducing construction principles,” explains Dr Ulrich Reiser, Project and Group Leader at Fraunhofer IPA.

Very similar to a Jibo robot on top, the Care-O-bot 4 is based on its modular system design.

The robot can be equipped with one, two or no arms at all. The patented spherical joints on the robot’s neck and hips are optional.

The joint in the hip provides a lot of functionality to Care-O-bot, enabling the robot to bend over to pick up low items as in the video below:

If you need Care-O-bot to serve drinks, one hand can be replaced by a tray, or the mobile base platform can be used on its own as a serving trolley.

"Care-O-bot 4 is a successful symbiosis of design and engineering, as well as functionality and emotion, which quickly encourages user interaction."

Individual robot platforms can be configured for a wide range of applications: a mobile information center in museums, DIY stores and airports, for collection and delivery services in homes and offices, for security applications or as museum robots at attractions.

The team's research has shown that social behavior is essential for the acceptance of interactive service robots. As with previous generations, social role models were used as a guiding vision in developing the design and functionality. Like Rethink Robotic's Baxter, Care-O-bot uses a display integrated in its head that projects a face appropriate to the situation. Care-O-bot 4 is able to display different atmospheres.

“Care-O-bot 4 is a successful symbiosis of design and engineering, as well as functionality and emotion, which quickly encourages user interaction.” states Andreas Haug, co-Founder and Managing Director of Phoenix Design, adds.

The designers and programmers took the social nature to heart. While the concept for the Care-O-bot 3 was a more reserved, cautious butler, its successor is as courteous, friendly, and affable as a gentleman.  For an example of this, check out how the robot appears to happily wave its arms as it rolls along.

The robot's developers see Care-O-bot being used in a variety of situations.  In the home, Care-O-bot 4 is the product vision of a mobile robot assistant to actively support people in their daily life. It can be used for a variety of household tasks from delivering food and drinks, to helping with cooking or for cleaning.

In service situations, from supporting patients and personnel in health care institutions, to waiting on tables in restaurants, to use in reception and room service in hotels.

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Care-O-bot 4 also has potential in industrial applications such as shelf-picking and commissioning in warehouses or loading and unloading of machines in manufacturing environments. The base module can also be used for transportation tasks.

Care-O-bot 4 features multi-modal user input: touchscreen, microphones, and speakers. Head cameras enable human robot interaction solutions based on a graphical user interface and gesture recognition. Care-O-bot‘s state can be signaled back to the user through LEDs, sounds, text-to-speech, laser pointer, and body gestures.

The robot is shipped with Open Source drivers and is powered by the Open Source Robot Operating System (ROS). ROS allows Care-O-bot 4 to use a wide range of highly capable service robot components from the field of navigation, manipulation, and perception. Developers can benefit from the powerful simulation and visualization tools which are available for free within the Open Source Care-O-bot packages.

As far as when the Care-O-bot might be in your home, the platform is still probably still on the research and development side of the fence, but if the team keeps progressing, Care-O-bot 5 might just crack into the consumer marketplace.




SOURCE  Fraunhofer IPA

By 33rd Square

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 Medicine  

Robot use is a very important consideration for the future of medicine, helping to treat patients and improve the overall healthcare system.

Robotic technology is currently being applied in most health facilities with the aim of improving healthcare. This technology has produced positive results on the patients who are suffering from numerous complications and robotic technology is now seen as one of the best options of treating problems such as spinal cord injury.

About robotic technology

Robotic technology can offer solutions to a significant proportion of problems affecting patients such stroke sufferers, amputees and those with mental problems. By 2025, much more medical robotic technology innovation is expected. However, there are four application areas which are on the near horizon and cover a big field of the healthcare. They include:

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• -Development in diagnostics which can be realized through the evolution of multi-functional endoscopic capsule.

• -A revolution in the surgery by robotic systems.

• -Robotic systems in the nursing care so as to support the work of individual professional.

• -Greater independence and autonomy for people with disabilities at home. This can be achieved through introduction of the domestic robots which will be used first for monitoring and later for the support tasks.

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It is important to understand that robot systems are very complex in the sense that not all of the required knowledge is available at the right level. This complexity exists in terms of the technologies which have to be fully integrated into a single device and also in terms of the regulation and the implementation in the healthcare. It is vital for many stakeholders to cooperate in the new roles and to take initiatives in supporting the application of robotic technology in the healthcare system.

There are several ethical issues which are also important in relation to robotic technology in healthcare, like the substitution of human contact by machine contact, privacy, and the outcome parameters for the therapeutic interactions of the robots with some patients who have mental disabilities. The concerns surrounding ethical issues needs to be translated into outcome criteria during the development process.

Benefits of Robotic technology in healthcare

• -Robot systems now play a key role in improving the life of people with the spinal cord injuries.

• -This technology also helps in treating patients with mental or cognitive problems

• -Robotic systems are also useful in helping to counteract the shortage of medical personnel.

Healthcare challenges arising from Robotic technology

Many technological and scientific developments are taking place which have raised very high expectations among the public concerning the benefits of the robotic applications in healthcare. Besides that, many of these developments have been linked to the numerous challenges:

• -Robotic systems are difficult to operate on a regular basis and they are also quite expensive. 

• -There are also doubts on whether this new application of the robot system is just but a replacement of the older procedures.

• -There is also a challenge of the limited spread of these robots despite this technology being a field which is really promising.

Actions to be undertaken so as to ensure the success of Robot technology:

• -Robotic systems in healthcare is still in its infancy and research still needs to be undertaken

• -The need to bridge the complex transition from the laboratories to trials and then from trials to the regular healthcare practice.

• -Robot assisted cognitive and social therapy needs to be undertaken.

Robot use is a very important consideration for the future of medicine and can be applied in order to help to treat patients and improve the healthcare system.

By Hannah Brooklyn

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Author bio: Hannah Brooklyn is a student from United Kingdom who loves to travel and write on Health and travel niche. Educating people on Healthy Lifestyles is her keen interest. She engages in all types of outdoor adventure, explores the local way of life. Presently working on Ehic