- Title: GERMANY: Care-O-Bot robot , the future of home help for seniors
- Date: 29th April 2013
- Summary: STUTTGART, GERMANY (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRAUNHOFER INSTITUTE "CARE-O-BOT 3" CO-DEVELOPER, BIRGIT GRAF, SAYING: "I an emergency situation, maybe the user has fallen down, the robot is able to come to the user, provide its screen for the user to set up contact for example with a service centre that can then see what the situation is and what kind of help
- Embargoed: 14th May 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Quirky,Technology,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVAAC05614WU7ECELRYZW8L9ZMLF
- Story Text: Scientists at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart have unveiled a third generation robot prototype, designed to assist the elderly in their homes. The 'Care-o-bot 3' is equipped to detect, grasp and carry ordinary household objects on command, and bring a measure of independence to the aged and infirm.
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An intelligent robot which reads minds and fulfils every human desire has yet to be created, but German scientists believe they have come a step closer with 'Care-o-bot 3', a prototype home assistant for the elderly.
Nicknamed an "interactive butler" by its developers at Stuttgart's Fraunhofer institute, Care-O-bot 3 can move safely among humans, detect and grasp typical household objects, and safely exchange them with humans.
One of the robot's co-developers, Birgit Graf, said 'Care-o-bot 3' was designed primarily "to assist elderly people at home. At the moment, we have our focus on so called 'fetch and carry tasks."
"The robot is able to take an order. For example, 'bring me a drink to the kitchen' or 'bring me a drink to the living room'," said Graf. "It is able to navigate freely in the environment, find its way to the kitchen, identify the object on the kitchen counter and bring it back to the user where it uses its tray to hand over the objects safely to the user," she said.
The robot is also designed to help in emergency situations.
"Maybe the user has fallen down, the robot is able to come to the user, provide its screen for the user to set up contact for example with a service centre that can then see what the situation is and what kind of help is needed to really react specifically to the situation," said Graf.
The Care-O-bot 3 can be controlled remotely in three different ways, say the developers. Elderly people themselves could give the robot instructions via a Smartphone or tablet-PC, which the robot then carries out autonomously. Another option is remote controlling from a distance, for example by relatives of the elderly person. It wouldn't matter how far they were from the person's house, according to Graf, they would still be able to help their loved-ones by steering the electronic helper.
The third variant would be central service stations, namely services which were reachable and offering round-the-clock help. Employees would be able to steer the machine from one of these service stations using sensors on the robot, in order to create a 3D image of the area in the rooms.
The robot is equipped with a flexible, lightweight arm, and a three-fingered hand which allows it to grasp and operate a wide range of everyday objects. Using tactile sensors in its fingers, the automaton can accurately adjust the grasping force it applies, and is capable of autonomously opening any door blocking the path to its destination.
Its head contains stereo cameras and a 3D sensor, enabling the machine to sense the environment in which it's operating. The motion of its arm is halted immediately if a human is detected in the vicinity of the robot. In combination with the use of safety-certified navigation sensors, this allows the robot's safe operation in public spaces.
However, a Care-O-bot is not aimed at replacing the service of a nurse or professional carer. According to Graf, "We use it to evaluate application scenarios in practical settings from the technical side but also to get feedback on the user acceptance. And our ideas if a scenario has really been approved in the practice, we try to transfer it to specific robot platforms designed specifically for this one task which is much cheaper of course and much simpler to control."
Graf says the robot remains a prototype and there are no plans to market the device. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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