Overview and Categorization of Robots Supporting Independent Living of Elderly People: What Activities Do They Support and How Far Have They Developed

Over the past decades, many robots for the elderly have been developed, supporting different activities of elderly people. A systematic review in four scientific literature databases and a search in article references and European projects was performed in order to create an overview of robots supporting independent living of elderly people. The robots found were categorized based on their development stage, the activity domains they claim to support, and the type of support provided (i.e., physical, non-physical, and/or non-specified). In total, 107 robots for the elderly were identified. Six robots were still in a concept phase, 95 in a development phase, and six of these robots were commercially available. These robots claimed to provide support related to four activity domains: mobility, self-care, interpersonal interaction & relationships, and other activities. Of the many robots developed, only a small percentage is commercially available. Technical ambitions seem to be guiding robot development. To prolong independent living, the step towards physical support is inevitable and needs to be taken. However, it will be a long time before a robot will be capable of supporting multiple activities in a physical manner in the home of an elderly person in order to enhance their independent living.

[1]  Sebastian Thrun,et al.  A robotic walker that provides guidance , 2003, 2003 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.03CH37422).

[2]  M. Sugisaka.  Development of communication methods between artificial liferobot and human being , 2001, Proceedings of IEEE Region 10 International Conference on Electrical and Electronic Technology. TENCON 2001 (Cat. No.01CH37239).

[3]  Dong Hwan Kim,et al.  Design and control of actively combined carrier system for the elderly , 2010, ICCAS 2010.

[4]  Carlos Balaguer,et al.  The MATS robot: service climbing robot for personal assistance , 2006, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine.

[5]  Paolo Dario,et al.  MOVAID: a personal robot in everyday life of disabled and elderly people , 1999 .

[6]  Chao-Lin Kuo,et al.  The application of CMAC-based fall detection in Omni-directional mobile robot , 2013, 2013 International Conference on Advanced Robotics and Intelligent Systems.

[7]  Kazuhiro Kosuge,et al.  Active type robotic mobility aid control based on passive behavior , 2007, 2007 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[8]  Hailong Duan,et al.  Research of the robot for the elderly based on star positioning , 2012, Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation.

[9]  Naohiro Ishii,et al.  Healing Effects of Pet Robots at an Elderly-Care Facility , 2010, 2010 IEEE/ACIS 9th International Conference on Computer and Information Science.

[10]  J. R. Landis,et al.  The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. , 1977, Biometrics.

[11]  Kai-Tai Song,et al.  Personal assistant robot , 2005, IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics, 2005. ICM '05..

[12]  Kazuhiro Kosuge,et al.  Development of service robot for fetching objects in home environment , 2005, 2005 International Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Robotics and Automation.

[13]  Sukhan Lee.  Cognitive recognition and the homemate robot , 2011, SMC.

[14]  Atsuo Takanishi,et al.  Walking up and down stairs carrying a human by a biped locomotor with parallel mechanism , 2005, 2005 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[15]  Atsuo Takanishi,et al.  Design of the humanoid robot KOBIAN - preliminary analysis of facial and whole body emotion expression capabilities- , 2008, Humanoids 2008 - 8th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots.

[16]  Chen-Yang Lin,et al.  Development of the Robot of Living Aid: RoLA , 2008, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Automation and Logistics.

[17]  Thomas Bock,et al.  An AmI Environment Implementation: Embedding TurtleBot into a novel Robotic Service Wall , 2012, ROBOTIK.

[18]  Nak Young Chong,et al.  Walking Intent-Based Movement Control for JAIST Active Robotic Walker , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems.

[19]  Goldie Nejat,et al.  The Design of an Interactive Assistive Kitchen System , 2012 .

[20]  Ching-Chih Tsai,et al.  Automatic mapping for an indoor mobile robot assistant using RFID and laser scanner , 2007, SICE Annual Conference 2007.

[21]  Ren C. Luo,et al.  Internet based remote supervisory system for Tele-medicine robot application , 2009, 2009 IEEE Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts.

[22]  Rajesh Kannan Megalingam,et al.  Context aware biomedical robotic platform for elderly health care , 2013, 2013 8th International Conference on Computer Science & Education.

[23]  M. Boninger,et al.  Clinical evaluation of Guido robotic walker. , 2008, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[24]  Chang-Soo Han,et al.  Development of the gait assistant mobile robot using ergonomic design , 2004, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA '04. 2004.

[25]  Xiaodong Zhang,et al.  Design of control system for elderly-assistant & walking-assistant robot based on fuzzy adaptive method , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation.

[26]  Akihisa Ohya,et al.  Intelligent Escort Robot Moving together with Human -Interaction in Accompanying Behavior- , 2002 .

[27]  M. Suzuki,et al.  System assisting walking and carrying daily necessities with an overhead robot arm for in-home elderlies , 2000, Proceedings of the 22nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (Cat. No.00CH37143).

[28]  Guangming Xiong,et al.  Development of Assistant Robot with Standing-up Devices for Paraplegic Patients and Elderly People , 2007, 2007 IEEE/ICME International Conference on Complex Medical Engineering.

[29]  Kuan-Ting Yu,et al.  An interactive robotic walker for assisting elderly mobility in senior care unit , 2010, 2010 IEEE Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts.

[30]  Toshio Fukuda,et al.  Control of intelligent cane robot considering usage of ordinary cane , 2013, 2013 IEEE RO-MAN.

[31]  Erwin Prassler,et al.  MORPHA: Communication and Interaction with Intelligent, Anthropomorphic Robot Assistants , 2001 .

[32]  Paolo Fiorini,et al.  Health care robotics: a progress report , 1997, Proceedings of International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[33]  Jean-Claude Martin,et al.  High level functions for the intuitive use of an assistive robot , 2013, 2013 IEEE 13th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR).

[34]  Yuan-Pao Hsu,et al.  Human-robot interaction of an active mobile robotic assistant in intelligent space environments , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics.

[35]  S. S. Ge,et al.  Mechanical design of social robot Nancy , 2011, 2011 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration (SII).

[36]  Sandra Bedaf,et al.  Which activities threaten independent living of elderly when becoming problematic: inspiration for meaningful service robot functionality , 2014, Disability and rehabilitation. Assistive technology.

[37]  Claire Cameron,et al.  Care Work in Europe: Current Understandings and Future Directions , 2007 .

[38]  Tae-Yong Choi,et al.  Bed-type robotic system for the bedridden , 2005, Proceedings, 2005 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics..

[39]  Daisuke Chugo,et al.  A motion control of a robotic walker for continuous assistance during standing, walking and seating operation , 2009, 2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[40]  Jian Huang,et al.  Development of a width-changeable intelligent walking-aid robot , 2012, 2012 International Symposium on Micro-NanoMechatronics and Human Science (MHS).

[41]  Kenji Kimura,et al.  Development of a communication robot Ifbot , 2004, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA '04. 2004.

[42]  Takashi Komeda,et al.  A Universal Mobile robot for assistive tasks , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics.

[43]  Akira Yamazaki,et al.  Autonomous Foods Handling by Chopsticks for Meal Assistant Robot , 2012, ROBOTIK.

[44]  Jyh-Hwa Tzou,et al.  The Development of the Mobile Robot for Taking Care of Elderly People , 2009, 2009 Fourth International Conference on Innovative Computing, Information and Control (ICICIC).

[45]  Arash Saifhashemi,et al.  MILO: personal robot platform , 2005, 2005 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[46]  Chun-Hsu Ko,et al.  Active and Passive Control of Walk-Assist Robot for Outdoor Guidance , 2013, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[47]  Max Q.-H. Meng,et al.  Study on cooperation between humanoid robot Nao and Barrett WAM , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO).

[48]  Karsten Berns,et al.  Use of an Autonomous Mobile Robot for Elderly Care , 2010, 2010 Advanced Technologies for Enhancing Quality of Life.

[49]  Byung-Ju Dan,et al.  Posture balancing control of smart mobile walker for uneven terrain , 2012, 2012 9th International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence (URAI).

[50]  K. Kosuge,et al.  User-environment based navigation algorithm for an omnidirectional passive walking aid system , 2005, 9th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, 2005. ICORR 2005..

[51]  Shigeki Sugano,et al.  Design of human symbiotic robot TWENDY-ONE , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[52]  Paolo Dario,et al.  Multidisciplinary approach for developing a new robotic system for domiciliary assistance to elderly people , 2011, 2011 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[53]  Kazuhiro Kosuge,et al.  Self-help standing-up method based on quasi-static motion , 2009, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics.

[54]  Chun-Ta Chen,et al.  Enhanced development and stability analysis of a new stair-climbing robotic wheelchair , 2008, 2008 IEEE Workshop on Advanced robotics and Its Social Impacts.

[55]  Naoyuki Kubota,et al.  Growing neural gas for information extraction in gesture recognition and reproduction of robot partners , 2012, 2012 International Symposium on Micro-NanoMechatronics and Human Science (MHS).

[56]  Yangsheng Xu,et al.  Intelligent household surveillance robot , 2009, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics.

[57]  Pieter P. Jonker,et al.  Development of PARO Interventions for Dementia Patients in Dutch Psycho-geriatric Care , 2010, ICSR.

[58]  K. Kosuge,et al.  Human-Robot Interaction Based on Passive Robotics , 2006, 2006 SICE-ICASE International Joint Conference.

[59]  N. Kubota,et al.  Robot Partner System for elderly people care by using sensor network , 2012, 2012 4th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob).

[60]  Johnell O. Brooks,et al.  comforTABLE: A robotic environment for aging in place , 2009, 2009 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI).

[61]  Chi Zhu,et al.  Platform development of an omnidirectional mobile robot for the elderly's walking support and the caregiver's power assistance , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO).

[62]  G. Stamatescu,et al.  Distributed system of mobile platform obstacle avoidance and control as robotic assistant for disabled and elderly , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Control and Automation.

[63]  Zhihua Zhang,et al.  Development of a Movable Service Robot with Double Working Arms for the Elderly and the Disabled , 2009, 2009 International Conference on Electronic Computer Technology.

[64]  Ming-Shyan Wang,et al.  Design and implementation of a stair-climbing robot , 2008, 2008 IEEE Workshop on Advanced robotics and Its Social Impacts.

[65]  Songmin Jia,et al.  Development of a human-assist robotic system using distributed computing technology , 2003, Proceedings 2003 IEEE International Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Robotics and Automation. Computational Intelligence in Robotics and Automation for the New Millennium (Cat. No.03EX694).

[66]  Vered Aharonson,et al.  Gait monitoring for the elderly using a robotic walking aid , 2010, 2010 IEEE 26-th Convention of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in Israel.

[67]  Songmin Jia,et al.  Intelligent Home Service Robotic System Based on Robot Technology Middleware , 2006, 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[68]  Y. Takahashi,et al.  Robotic food feeder , 1999, SICE '99. Proceedings of the 38th SICE Annual Conference. International Session Papers (IEEE Cat. No.99TH8456).

[69]  Kai-Tai Song,et al.  A call-to-service design for mobile robots using Zigbee sensor networks , 2011, 2011 8th Asian Control Conference (ASCC).

[70]  Maja J. Mataric,et al.  Robot exercise instructor: A socially assistive robot system to monitor and encourage physical exercise for the elderly , 2010, 19th International Symposium in Robot and Human Interactive Communication.

[71]  Sooyong Park,et al.  Service robot for the elderly , 2009, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine.