High level functions for the intuitive use of an assistive robot

Abstract

This document presents the research project ARMEN (Assistive Robotics to Maintain Elderly People in a Natural environment), aimed at the development of a user friendly robot with advanced functions for assistance to elderly or disabled persons at home. Focus is given to the robot SAM (Smart Autonomous Majordomo) and its new features of navigation, manipulation, object recognition, and knowledge representation developed for the intuitive supervision of the robot. The results of the technical evaluations show the value and potential of these functions for practical applications. The paper also documents the details of the clinical evaluations carried out with elderly and disabled persons in a therapeutic setting to validate the project.

Companion robots for older adults: Rodgers’ evolutionary concept analysis approach

“…To enjoy long-term and engaging multimodal interaction, the human–robot dialog is a key factor, which can be implemented through semantic analysis, understanding emotions from speech analysis, and the design of various robot behaviors [ 7 , 13 , 37 , 38 ]. These dialogs need to be flexible enough to adapt to unforeseen circumstances during the conversation [ 38 ].…”

“…The functions of the robot as presented in previous studies included service-related and companion-related functions, such as coping with emergencies, physical assistance, stimulation, assistance in memory recall, including medication, nutritional support, help locate or bring objects, housekeeping, collaboration with healthcare staff, logging daily activities, and entertainment [ 2 , 6 , 8 , 13 , 19 , 22 , 24 , 33 , 34 , 37 , 40 – 45 ]. Early detection and timely reaction to emergencies, including falls, assisting and monitoring older adults using telepresence, and collaborating with healthcare staff, including exchanging data, were mentioned as important functions [ 19 , 24 , 33 , 37 , 46 ]. Additionally, assistance with mobility or rehabilitation and self-care support through cognitive or emotional stimulation are helpful functions in the life of older adults [ 8 , 13 , 15 , 24 , 33 , 47 ].…”

“…To perform these functions, a robot needs to be equipped with hardware, such as arms, sensors, cameras, microphones, tablets, monitors, or mobile manipulators [ 3 , 17 , 30 , 50 ], and a software architecture capable of navigation, manipulation, and object recognition [ 5 , 17 , 37 , 46 ]. In other words, robots can listen, respond to speech, talk in a few circumstances, recognize touch, and detect sound and light [ 5 , 19 , 38 ].…”

“…Specifically, the companion robot can contribute to reducing time, level of assistance, and the energy invested into caregiving, thus decreasing anxiety, fear, and task difficulty as well as increasing the safety of performing activities that require physical assistance [ 6 , 8 , 40 ]. The telepresence function of robots can assist healthcare providers in everyday activities [ 18 ], make access to medical care convenient for healthcare providers and patients [ 40 ], and facilitate social interaction with family and healthcare providers [ 37 ]. Moreover, companion robots can enhance the staff’s job satisfaction [ 18 ].…”

Medical robots with potential applications in participatory and opportunistic remote sensing: A review

“…In addition, the Devices Profile for Web Services(DPWS) [93], sometimes called Web Services on Devices (WSD), can offer a powerful structure for the communications in the context of medical robotics. In [94], a technology referred to as Assistive Robotics to Maintain Elderly People in a Natural environment (ARMEN) is introduced, which has been reported to be aimed at providing user-friendly assistance to the elderly or disabled people at home, using the Smart Autonomous Majordomo (SAM) robot. Advanced functionalities and features such as navigation, manipulation, object recognition, and knowledge representation are embedded into the robot for an improved service, which make it possible to supervise the robot in an intuitive manner, where the technical and clinical results of validation are presented as well.…”