A Robotic System for Autonomous Medication and Water Delivery

Poor medication adherence and dehydration are well-documented challenges for older adults living independently that lead to reduced quality of life. Robotic delivery of pills and water in the home could potentially improve medication adherence and hydration for older adults by providing timely, reliable, and convenient delivery. In this technical report, we present a prototype multi-robot system that can autonomously deliver pills and water to a person in a realistic home environment. The system consists of a mobile robot with a tray, a stationary dispensing robot, and a smartphone carried by the user. Within this paper, we discuss the opportunity to improve quality of life, describe our robotic system, and convey results from an experimental evaluation of the system’s delivery performance.

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