Letting activities in maintaining a robot to do it sounds strange at first. Because dealing with people in need of care requires special care and empathy. However, if the partial autonomous robot is served by a virtual reality technology from a distance, there is a higher acceptance among people to be cared for. This is one of the results of the Teleskoop research project, in which such a concept was tested.
Demographic development presents our society with a major challenge: an increasing number of people in need of care faces a limited number of nurses. Humanoid robots are considered a possible solution that assist those affected in the household and thus take some tasks to the human nursing staff. However, such robots have so far encountered little acceptance: many people strangers with such technical helpers or are concerned that the robots act uncontrollably and therefore either do not perform their task or even do damage.
Remote -controlled instead of very autonomous
A solution to this problem could offer the so -called telephoto robotics. This is the conclusion from the Teleskoop research project, which has now come to an end after three years. The Devanthro company, the research center Informatik (FZI) and the research group geriatrics of the Charité University Medicine Berlin have tested a concept in which a humanoid robot is controlled from a distance to support people in need of care in the household. Nurses can operate the partial autonomous system with the name “Robody” with the help of virtual reality technology (VR) and haptic controllers.
The robot moves through the apartment on wheels. Its upper body is human -like – with a head and two arms. The nurses control him with the help of VR glasses and two controllers. You are able to perceive everything as the robot on site. With the controllers in your hands you can move the robot’s arms and, for example, make it to take an object. This is comparable to the controllers of game consoles, with which, for example, you can virtually do sports – such as bowling – in the home living room. The person in need of care sees the operator’s face on the robot’s display and can communicate with it by language. “So she gets the feeling that the caregiver itself is on site,” says Rafael Holstettler, co -founder and CEO of the Devanthro company, which developed the robot.
In this way, Robody can support a person in different ways in the household. For example, he can prepare food, bring drinks, help you wear, provide medication or provide entertainment by playing board games. The prerequisite for the use of the robot is a ground -level apartment because it cannot rise stairs, as well as an internet connection. Because caregivers and robots are connected to each other via the Internet. All communication is encrypted to be protected from hacker attacks, explains Holstettler. No special skills are required to control the robot. In the test, a six -hour training session was sufficient for the user to be able to operate the Robody.
Better adapted to the daily routine
In several pilot tests, Robody supported people who still live in their own household but rely on help – and each over a period of 23 days. According to the project partners, the results of the tests show, among other things, that people as the operator of the robot play an important role in increasing acceptance among people in need of care for such a concept. Thanks to the teleoperative approach, it is also possible to implement the support flexibly and to adapt to the skills and daily routines of the target group. The advantage for the nursing staff: You can do your work more efficiently because you save, for example, access routes. And they are physically relieved.
“With this telephone -care approach, we combine the strengths of man and machine and at the same time maintain the personal exchange between the nursing staff and the person,” says Hostettler. The FZI, which was involved in the project in addition to Devanthro, has developed cooperative controllers with rapid ability to react to carry out complex tasks such as the transport of a glass filled with water. The Charité – University Medicine Berlin was responsible for the scientific support of the project. The determined knowledge should flow directly into the technical development of the Robody system.
Source: Research Center Computer Science (FZI)