Making Robot Caregivers Safer
From: Medical Design Briefs - 08/01/2016

Assistive robotics, as they are called, will become ever more important due
to the aging population and the steadily rising costs of care. Robot
technology is already becoming very valuable for people with a physical
handicap to aid in carrying out everyday tasks. A robot arm on a wheelchair
or table, for instance, can enable a person to open the door or pick up a
glass by themselves, meaning that this group of patients is less dependent on
health care workers. It also increases the patients’ quality of life.

However, in practice the existing form of robotics is not ideal for a
care-support function because the systems are based on robots that carry out
repetitive tasks in industry. These robots generally behave as rigid and less
safe systems: the system that controls the electromotors (actuators) lacks
the flexibility that is required in an unfamiliar domestic environment. The
robot will often seek the shortest route from A to B, taking little or no
account of obstacles or persons in its immediate surroundings. And so there
is a relatively large risk of the robot or the obstacle being damaged.

By adding a kind of elastic spring to the actuator, it becomes relatively
easy to adjust the positioning of actuators, which simplifies the analysis of
these arms. This makes it possible to develop a robot arm that is much better
suited for the healthcare sector.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/component/content/article/mdb/features/25213