Service Robots and Automation for the Disabled/Limited
The increasing number of elderly people is resulting in increased demand for new solutions to support self-initiative and independent life. Robotics and automation technologies, initially applied in industrial environments only, are starting to move into
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Service Robot 84. Service Robots and Automation for the Disabled/Limited
The increasing number of elderly people is resulting in increased demand for new solutions to support self-initiative and independent life. Robotics and automation technologies, initially applied in industrial environments only, are starting to move into our everyday lives to provide support and enhance the quality of our lives. This chapter analyzes the needs of disabled or limited persons and discusses possible tasks of new assistive service robots. It further gives an overview of existing solutions available as prototypes or products. Existing technologies to assist disabled or limited persons can be grouped into stand-alone devices operated by the user explicitly such as robotic walkers, wheelchairs, guidance robots or manipulation aids, and wearable devices that are attached to the user and operated implicitly by measuring the desired limb motion of the user such as in orthoses, exoskeletons or prostheses. Two recent developments are discussed in detail as application examples: the robotic home assistant Care-O-bot and the bionic robotic arm ISELLA. One of the most important challenges for future developments is to reduce costs in order to make assistive technologies available to everybody. On the technological side, user interfaces need to be designed that allow the use of the machines even by persons who have no technical knowledge and that enable new tasks to be taught to assistive
In the last years, the percentage of elderly people in our society has grown rapidly. Out of 82.5 million people living in Germany in 2005, according to numbers from the German Federal Statistical Office, around 19% were seniors above 65 years [84.1]. With this demographic development continuing, by the year 2050 those above 65 years will comprise
84.1 Motivation and Required Functionalities 1486 84.2 State of the Art .................................... 1486 84.2.1 Mobility Aids ............................. 1487 84.2.2 Guidance Robots ........................ 1489 84.2.3 Manipulation Aids ...................... 1490 84.2.4 Orthoses and Exoskeletons .......... 1491 84.2.5 Prostheses................................. 1492 84.3 Application Example: the Robotic Home Assistant Care-O-bot .. 1493 84.3.1 History of Care-O-bot Development ........ 1493 84.3.2 Key Technologies........................ 1494 84.3.3 Applications .............................. 1496 84.4 Application Example: the Bionic Robotic Arm ISELLA ................ 1496 84.4.1 Service Robot Arms and Drive Technology ................. 1496 84.4.2 The DOHELIX Muscle .................... 1498 84.4.3 The ISELLA Robot Arm .................. 1498 84.5 Future Challenges ................................. 1499 References .................................................. 1499
robots without much effort. Finally, safe manipulation of assistive robots among humans must be guaranteed by new sensors and corresponding safety standards.
33–36% of Germany’s population. Similar numbers are reported from other i
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