Personal Assistant Robot Research Articles

Understanding healthcare providers' perceptions of a personal assistant robot.

To successfully deploy a robot into a healthcare setting, it must be accepted by the end users. This study explored healthcare providers' perceptions of a mobile manipulator class personal robot assisting with caregiving tasks for older adult patients. Participants were 14 healthcare providers with an average of 12 years of continuous work experience with older patients. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Participants indicated a willingness to use a mobile manipulator robot as an assistant, yet they expressed discretion in their acceptance for different tasks. Benefits of robot assistance noted by participants included saving time, being accurate when conducting medical tasks, and enabling them to be more productive. Participants expressed concern about robots being unreliable, hazardous to patients, and inappropriate for performing some tasks (e.g., those that involve close patient contact). These findings provide insights into healthcare providers' attitudes and preferences for assistance from a mobile manipulator robot.

Predicting Human Decision-Making: From Prediction to Action

Abstract Human decision-making often transcends our formal models of rationality. Designing intelligent agents that interact proficiently with people necessitates the modeling of human behavior and the prediction of their decisions. In this book, we explore the task of automatically predicting human decision-making and its use in designing intelligent human-aware automated computer systems of varying natures—from purely conflicting interaction settings (e.g., security and games) to fully cooperative interaction settings (e.g., autonomous driving and personal robotic assistants). We explore the techniques, algorithms, and empirical methodologies for meeting the challenges that arise from the above tasks and illustrate major benefits from the use of these computational solutions in real-world application domains such as security, negotiations, argumentative interactions, voting systems, autonomous driving, and games. The book presents both the traditional and classical methods as well as the most recent a...

Kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic characteristics during quiet standing on a balance exercise assist robot.

[Purpose] The balance exercise assist robot is a training device based on a personal transport assistance robot ridden in the standing position. The personal transport assistance robot uses an inverted pendulum control system and moves in response to movements of the user’s center of gravity. The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of postural control during the action of stopping the personal transport assistance robot. [Participants and Methods] Eleven healthy male participants were required to maintain a standing position for 30 s; each task was performed 10 times. The measurement conditions were as follows: (1) on the floor; (2) on the robot, touching the handlebars; and (3) on the robot, not touching the handlebars. [Results] During the robotic tasks, the total locus lengths of the center of gravity and total joint momentums of the hip, knee, and ankle joints were larger, and the amount of displacement of the center of pressure was smaller than that during the floor task. Posture control on the robot was performed actively by mechanical interaction of the ankle, knee, and hip joints within a small base of support. [Conclusion] The balance exercise assist robot can be useful for postural control exercises because maintaining a standing position on the personal transport assistance robot required active postural control.

Development of an Anthropomorphic Gripping Manipulator: Experimental Research

Background/Objectives: This article deals with the experimental research of the newly developed anthropomorphic manipulator for gripping items out of the predetermined set. The project aims at developing an anthropomorphic gripping manipulator to a high accuracy of copying dynamics and kinematics of a human hand. Methods: Application of method of planning movement trajectory allows pre-calculating the parameters of joint movement over time. The movement ­trajectory approximation methods were used to fulfill the preset conditions. Harrington’s desirability function was ­applied for the generalized response estimation. Random errors were screened using the Student’s t-test. Findings: Results of gripping rigid and soft items of sophisticated shape are provided. According to this research, a number of shortcomings of mechanical structure were discovered and eliminated. Microprocessor modules, feedback sensor system, and power electronic module were developed and may be broadly used in educational robotics for building various robotic systems of low power (up to 150 W) for each swiveling block. Developed software modules may be used for building control system of an anthropomorphic gripping manipulator of kinematic configuration that resembles a human hand, but involving a varying number of controlled and dependent degrees of freedom. Improvements/Application: This hand may be applied in industrial robots to replace people in production, personal robotic assistants and bionic prosthetic appliances. At the same time, this development focuses on the use of popular and cheap component parts, and simplification of the structure to ensure low production cost. Keywords: Anthropomorphic Gripping Manipulator, Bionic Hand Prosthetic, Gripping of Items, Robotics

Toward Reliable Autonomous Robotic Assistants Through Formal Verification: A Case Study

It is essential for robots working in close proximity to people to be both safe and trustworthy. We present a case study on formal verification for a high-level planner/scheduler for the Care-O-bot, an autonomous personal robotic assistant. We describe how a model of the Care-O-bot and its environment was developed using Brahms, a multiagent workflow language. Formal verification was then carried out by automatically translating this model to the input language of an existing model checker. Four sample properties based on system requirements were verified. We then refined the environment model three times to increase its accuracy and the persuasiveness of the formal verification results. The first refinement uses a user activity log based on real-life experiments, but is deterministic. The second refinement uses the activities from the user activity log nondeterministically. The third refinement uses “conjoined activities” based on an observation that many user activities can overlap. The four samples properties were verified for each refinement of the environment model. Finally, we discuss the approach of environment model refinement with respect to this case study.

ROBOTS WITH HEART.

The article discusses the development of empathetic robots designed to understand and share in human emotion. The author goes on to cover how such developments in robotics can be used not only as personal assistants but companions. Particular attention is given to Pepper, a humanoid built by the firm Aldebaran Robotics, and Jibo, a personal assistant robot designed by engineer Roberto Pieraccini.

User-centric design of a personal assistance robot (FRASIER) for active aging.

We present our preliminary results from the design process for developing the Worcester Polytechnic Institute's personal assistance robot, FRASIER, as an intelligent service robot for enabling active aging. The robot capabilities include vision-based object detection, tracking the user and help with carrying heavy items such as grocery bags or cafeteria trays. This work-in-progress report outlines our motivation and approach to developing the next generation of service robots for the elderly. Our main contribution in this paper is the development of a set of specifications based on the adopted user-centered design process, and realization of the prototype system designed to meet these specifications.

Speech Interaction with Personal Assistive Robots Supporting Aging at Home for Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease

Increases in the prevalence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are a growing challenge in many nations where healthcare infrastructures are ill-prepared for the upcoming demand for personal caregiving. To help individuals with AD live at home for longer, we are developing a mobile robot, called ED, intended to assist with activities of daily living through visual monitoring and verbal prompts in cases of difficulty. In a series of experiments, we study speech-based interactions between ED and each of 10 older adults with AD as the latter complete daily tasks in a simulated home environment. Traditional automatic speech recognition is evaluated in this environment, along with rates of verbal behaviors that indicate confusion or trouble with the conversation. Analysis reveals that speech recognition remains a challenge in this setup, especially during household tasks with individuals with AD. Across the verbal behaviors that indicate confusion, older adults with AD are very likely to simply ignore the robot, which accounts for over 40% of all such behaviors when interacting with the robot. This work provides a baseline assessment of the types of technical and communicative challenges that will need to be overcome for robots to be used effectively in the home for speech-based assistance with daily living.

Natural Interaction with an Assistive Humanoid Robot

This paper addresses the concept of “natural interaction”, defined as a way to interact in a simple, human-like and intuitive manner with personal assistive robots. A human-robot interaction system was developed for this purpose in order to provide means for expert and non-expert users to cooperate and interact with an assistant humanoid robot (Nao) operating in a domestic environment, allowing them to express their instructions as combinations of gestures and speech inputs.

The Development of a Semi-Autonomous Framework for Personal Assistant Robots - SRS Project

SRS is a European research project for building robust personal assistant robots using ROS (Robotic Operating System) and Care-O-bot (COB) 3 as the demonstration platform. A semi-autonomous framework has been developed in the project. It consists of an autonomous control structure and user interfaces that support the semi-autonomous operation. The control structure is divided into two parts. First, it has an automatic task planner, which initialises actions on the symbolic level. The planner produces proactive robotic behaviours based on updated semantic knowledge. Second, it has an action executive for coordination actions at the level of sensing and actuation. The executive produces reactive behaviours in well-defined domains. The two parts are integrated by fuzzy logic based symbolic grounding. As a whole, they represent the framework for autonomous control. Based on the framework, SRS user interfaces are integrated on top of COB's existing capabilities to enable robust fetch and carry in unstructured environments.

Performance evaluation of The Personal Mobility and Manipulation Appliance (PerMMA)

The Personal Mobility and Manipulation Appliance (PerMMA) is a recently developed personal assistance robot created to provide people with severe physical disabilities enhanced assistance in both mobility and manipulation. PerMMA aims to improve functional independence when a personal care attendant is not available on site. PerMMA integrates both a smart powered wheelchair and two dexterous robotic arms to assist its users in completing essential mobility and manipulation tasks during basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL). Two user interfaces were developed: a local control interface and a remote operator controller. This paper reports on the evaluation of PerMMA with end users completing basic ADL tasks. Participants with both lower and upper extremity impairments (N=15) were recruited to operate PerMMA and complete up to five ADL tasks in a single session of no more than two hours (to avoid fatigue or frustration of the participants). The performance of PerMMA was evaluated by participants completing ADL tasks with two different control modes: local mode and cooperative control. The users’ task completion performance and answers on pre/post-evaluation questionnaires demonstrated not only the ease in learning and usefulness of PerMMA, but also their attitudes toward assistance from advanced technology like PerMMA. As a part of the iterative development process, results of this work will serve as supporting evidence to identify design criteria and other areas for improvement of PerMMA.

Preliminary Trial of Postural Strategy Training Using a Personal Transport Assistance Robot for Patients With Central Nervous System Disorder

ObjectiveTo examine the efficacy of postural strategy training using a personal transport assistance robot (PTAR) for patients with central nervous system disorders. DesignSingle-group intervention trial. SettingRehabilitation center at a university hospital. ParticipantsOutpatients (N=8; 5 men, 3 women; mean age, 50±13y) with a gait disturbance (mean time after onset, 34±29mo) as a result of central nervous system disorders were selected from a volunteer sample. InterventionsTwo methods of balance exercise using a PTAR were devised: exercise against perturbation and exercise moving the center of gravity. The exercises were performed twice a week for 4 weeks. Main Outcome MeasuresPreferred and tandem gait speeds, Functional Reach Test, functional base of support, center of pressure (COP), muscle strength of lower extremities, and grip strength were assessed before and after the completion of the exercise program. After the exercise program, enjoyment of exercise was investigated via a visual analog scale questionnaire. ResultsAfter the program, statistically significant improvements were noted for tandem gait speeds (P=.009), Functional Reach Test (P=.003), functional base of support (P=.014), and lower extremity muscle strength (P<.001–.042). On the other hand, preferred gait speeds (P=.151), COP (P=.446–.714), and grip power (P=.584) did not change. Finally, subjects rated that this exercise was more enjoyable than traditional balance exercises. ConclusionsDynamic balance and lower extremity muscle strength were significantly improved in response to postural strategy training with the PTAR. These results suggest that postural strategy training with the PTAR may contribute to fall prevention of patients with a balance disorder.

Combined 2D–3D categorization and classification for multimodal perception systems

In this article we describe an object perception system for autonomous robots performing everyday manipulation tasks in kitchen environments. The perception system gains its strengths by exploiting that the robots are to perform the same kinds of tasks with the same objects over and over again. It does so by learning the object representations necessary for the recognition and reconstruction in the context of pick-and-place tasks. The system employs a library of specialized perception routines that solve different, well-defined perceptual sub-tasks and can be combined into composite perceptual activities including the construction of an object model database, multimodal object classification, and object model reconstruction for grasping. We evaluate the effectiveness of our methods, and give examples of application scenarios using our personal robotic assistants acting in a human living environment.

Usability assessment of ASIBOT: a portable robot to aid patients with spinal cord injury

The usability concept refers to aspects related to the use of products that are closely linked to the user's degree of satisfaction. Our goal is to present a functional evaluation methodology for assessing the usability of sophisticated technical aids, such as a portable robot for helping disabled patients with severe spinal cord injuries. The specific manipulator used for this task is ASIBOT, a personal assistance robot totally developed by RoboticsLab at the University Carlos III of Madrid. Our purpose is also to improve some aspects of the manipulator according to the user's perception. For our case study, a population of six patients with spinal cord injury is considered. These patients have been suffering spinal cord injuries for a period of time longer than 1 year before the tests are carried out. The methodology followed for the information gathering is based on the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with assistive Technology (QUEST). Different daily functions, such as drinking, brushing one's teeth and washing one's face, are considered to assess the user's perception when using ASIBOT as a technical aid. The human factor in this procedure is the main base to establish the specific needs and tools to make the end product more suitable and usable.

HERMES - a versatile personal robotic assistant

We have developed a humanoid robot, HERMES, to study several key technologies that are important for personal robots, such as robot design, sensors and perception, locomotion, localization and navigation, manipulation, human-robot communication and interaction, adaptability and learning, system architecture and integration, and dependability. The robot's skill-based system architecture was derived from a qualitative model of human information processing and insights gained from psychological literature dealing with skill acquisition, human performance and motor learning. HERMES' system architecture, several of its skills and the design principles are introduced, and some experiments carried out with the real robot are presented, including a long-term test where HERMES served in a museum, far away from its home laboratory, for more than six months up to 12 hours per day. During this period the robot and its skills were regularly demonstrated to the public by nonexpert presenters. Also, HERMES interacted with the visitors, chatted with them in English, French and German, answered questions and performed services as requested by them.

Autominder: an intelligent cognitive orthotic system for people with memory impairment

The world’s population is aging at a phenomenal rate. Certain types of cognitive decline, in particular some forms of memory impairment, occur much more frequently in the elderly. This paper describes Autominder, a cognitive orthotic system intended to help older adults adapt to cognitive decline and continue the satisfactory performance of routine activities, thereby potentially enabling them to remain in their own homes longer. Autominder achieves this goal by providing adaptive, personalized reminders of (basic, instrumental, and extended) activities of daily living. Cognitive orthotic systems on the market today mainly provide alarms for prescribed activities at fixed times that are specified in advance. In contrast, Autominder uses a range of AI techniques to model an individual’s daily plans, observe and reason about the execution of those plans, and make decisions about whether and when it is most appropriate to issue reminders. Autominder is currently deployed on a mobile robot, and is being developed as part of the Initiative on Personal Robotic Assistants for the Elderly (the Nursebot project).

Design and experiments on a personal robotic assistant

Design and experiments on a personal robotic assistant

Design and experiments on a personal robotic assistant

The design and development of the 'personal robot, i.e. a robot capable of living together with and assisting human beings, is perhaps the main challenge for robotics research and technology in the third Millennium. One of the most intriguing issues in the design of such robot is the definition and implementation of adequate schemes for human-robot interaction. In fact, achieving this goal requires multidisciplinary efforts, and the integration of engineering analysis with psychological, anthropological, ethological and product design considerations. In this paper, the basic concepts to be followed in the design of human-robot interaction are discussed. with reference to a concrete example: the MOVAID personal robot for assistance to disabled and elderly people at home. The MOVAID system was designed taking into careful account as a primary design goal the need for interaction with the human user. A prototype of the MOVAID system has been developed and then successfully validated with disabled end-users. The results of these tests indicate that a personal robot is technically feasible, and is acceptable to users in terms of helpfulness, easiness of use and pleasure of interaction.

Personal Assistant Robots for the 21st Century (Intelligent Bipeds and Multipeds)

This paper intends to make a case and create a new climate for Industry, Commerce and Government to support research, development and ultimateliy to build intelligent personal robots. In the paper the authors at first outline their vision by raising the most relevant principal questions regarding some important aspects for assistant robots (monoped, biped, multiped, spineped) design. There are also proposal for solutions of compliance, energy recuperation, low entropic wave-motion in any type of walking.