RIKEN’s original RIBA healthcare robot was already fairly adept at lifting patients while not completely terrifying them but, as is the case with such things, it’s now been succeeded by a brand new and improved model. While its outward, bear-like appearance hasn’t changed, the hot bot boasts a sequence of upgrades that now lets it bend over and raise patients up directly off the ground, not only off a bed or wheelchair. It is also now capable of lift patients that weight as much as 176 pounds (41 pounds greater than before), and it packs an array of latest sensors that permit it more accurately gauge a person’s weight and carry them more comfortably — let alone some touchscreen controls on its back for when it needs just a little direction. Hit the source link below for a video.
[Thanks, robotbling]
New robot boasts the most recent in sensor technology, promises a brighter future for Japan’s elderly population
August 2, 2011
a brand new robot using high-precision tactile sensors and versatile motor control technology has taken Japan one step toward its goal of providing high-quality take care of its growing elderly population. Developed by researchers at RIKEN and Tokai Rubber Industries (TRI), the recent robot can lift a patient as much as 80kg in weight off floor-level bedding and right into a wheelchair, freeing care facility personnel of 1 in their most difficult and effort-consuming tasks.
With an elderly population short of nursing care projected to succeed in a staggering 5.69 million by 2015, Japan faces an urgent need for brand new approaches to aid care-giving personnel. Probably the most strenuous tasks for such personnel, performed a typical of 40 times daily, is that of lifting a patient from a futon at floor level right into a wheelchair. Robots are well-fitted to this task, yet none have not begun been deployed in care-giving facilities.
In 2009, the RIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research (RTC), a joint project established in 2007 and found on the Nagoya Science Park in central Japan, unveiled a robot called RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance) designed to help during this task. The 1st robot in a position to lifting a patient from a bed to a wheelchair and back, RIBA charted a brand new course within the development of care-giving robots, yet functional limitations prevented its direct commercialization.
RTC’s new robot, named RIBA-II, overcomes these limitations with added power and functionality. New joints inside the robot’s base and again enable RIBA-II to crouch down and raise a patient off a futon at floor level (Figure 1), the foremost physically strenuous task for care-givers and one who RIBA was unable to do. RIBA-II accomplishes this task using newly-developed Smart Rubber sensors (Table 1, Figure 2, 3), the primary capacitance-type tactile sensors made entirely of rubber. Printed in sheets and fitted onto the robot’s arms and chest, the sensors enable high-precision tactile guidance and permit RIBA-II to quickly detect a person’s weight from touch alone, guaranteeing patient safety.
Someday, RTC researchers will interact with partner nursing care facilities to check RIBA-II and additional tailor it to the wishes of care-givers and their patients, while also developing new applications in areas along with rehabilitation. TRI aims to bring care-giving robots like RIBA-II to the market within the near future, promising support for aging populations in countries worldwide.
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