Robots go squishy, exoskeletons do not, and here’s your drink

Gizmag profiles another soft robot, this out of University of California Berkeley with a hydrogel/graphene layer that causes it to flex when exposed to light. A natural to combine with the Harvard/Wyss/DARPA chameleon [TTA 23 Aug 12] or, according to the article, drug delivery and tissue engineering. 0:36 video demos the gel in a ‘hand’ flipping its ‘fingers’ by laser light. Soft robots could benefit from new light-controlled hydrogel

Honda, one of the many companies developing exoskeletons to assist movement, is the first to lease 100 of them to 50 hospitals in Japan for testing. After 14 years of development, it’s about time. The current model is 2.6 kg (5.7 lbs.) and according to Honda, will “improve the symmetry of the timing of each leg lifting from the ground and extending forward, and to promote a longer stride for an easier walk.” Exoskeletons have been developed on three purposes. The first is assistance to the elderly and those in rehabilitation (Honda’s, Cyberdyne’s HAL, EKSO Bionics, Argo ReWalk TTA 29 June 11). The second is industrial (Honda as well.) The third is military, to support soldiers’ strength in the field and in combat conditions (RB3D, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin; also DARPA/Harvard/Wyss TTA 27 July 12Honda begins leasing Walking Assist Exoskeleton (Gizmag)

And after all this, wouldn’t you like a drink? Coming right up…. Cornell University’s Personal Robotics Lab adapted a Willow Garage PR-2 to serve you a beer or your favorite beverage. For a robot, anticipating human actions is a real challenge. That simple top-up of a drink can, if actions are not correctly interpreted, mean a big spill. So the Cornellians programmed the robot with 120 3D videos of people in everyday tasks, broken down into subtasks that the robot then recompiles into models of different activities, and then equipped the PR-2 with a Microsoft Kinect scanner to build up a 3D map of the objects present, so that the robot can then ‘observe’ how they might be used. It gives you pause to realize that simple everyday activities are made up of a myriad of subactions. Robby, pour me a tall one….Cornell develops beer-pouring robot that anticipates people’s actions (Gizmag again)

Boys win Lego award for medication reminder robot and app (Ireland)

It’s great to see young people working as an effective team in developing technology – although it is not clear from the article what the robot element does. However, isn’t it time that there was more recognition in the media that the issues around prompting and monitoring medication compliance are more complicated than just how to get the person to receive a reminder? Dublin boys win Lego award for robot reminding people to take medicines. The Journal.

The Friday robo-alert: Five ways robots are invading hospitals

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ri-man.png” thumb_width=”150″ /]Having watched the delightful ‘Forbidden Planet’ (1956) on Turner Classic Movies last night, marking the debut of the robot paragon Robby the Robot, this overview of hospital robotics from VentureBeat is on point. No Robbies here (despite our picture, this article does not cover robots that lift or design dresses with options of diamonds, emeralds or star sapphires) but does highlight:

  • Germ and infection reduction (the ultraviolet Xenex)
  • Remote consult robots (iRobot’s RP-VITA, now FDA approved)
  • Prosthetics (BioOM prosthetic ankle)
  • Surgical robots
  • Therapeutic robots for the elderly (PARO, which is a ‘1.0’)

Previously in TTA: RP-VITA’s FDA approval and profile; prosthetic advances, surgical microgripping robots and BriteSeed’s SafeSnips; the debate on the $6,000 PARO; better and more affordable robots and aids for older adults such as GeriJoy (virtual pet) and Clevermind (stimulation); and the vast area of humanoid robots such as Roboy, Hector and Kompaï. (Or just search ‘robots’ in TTA for our wealth of coverage.)

Microgripping and touching robots

Need that tissue sample, doctor? You may be laying aside your scalpel and forceps for a swarm of microgripping robots that you place and retrieve.  David H. Gracias, PhD. and his Johns Hopkins team has developed star-shaped nickel metal discs of only 300 micrometers in size which snip bits of tissue. Using a magnetic catheter, the microgrippers are then gathered and removed–hopefully. Gizmag; study in Gastroenterology.

Last week, the TakkTile, this week, piezotronic transistors. Thousands of them arrayed, and designed to give robots–and touchscreens–that extra and almost human edge in touch sensitivity. The transistors in thin, flat material can sense changes in their own polarity when pressure is applied due to their zinc oxide composition. Initial use will probably be in touchscreens, but the Georgia Tech project’s supporters–the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Air Force (USAF), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences–are also considering its use in prosthetic skin or limbs. Gizmag.

‘Tactile helmet’ for rescuers may assist vision impaired (UK)

Here’s where a partner and a little seed capital could go a long way–no FDA or CE needed. Researchers at the University of Sheffield’s Sheffield Centre for Robotics (SCentRo) have developed a variation on a firefighter’s helmet containing ultrasound sensors that detect the distances between the helmet and nearby walls. When a possible obstacle is ‘sensed’, a vibration pad directionally signals the wearer. For firefighters, this is obviously useful in smoke-filled areas but a lightweight version could be used by vision impaired people as a guidance aid. After two years of research and testing, Sheffield now needs a commercial partner interested in further developing the helmet. University of Sheffield News Hat tip to TANN Ireland’s Toni Bunting

Electronic paper and tactile robots

E Ink technology, popular on e-books like the Kindle and on displays, is now showing up as a highly readable, lightweight (80g), low power display (one week life) phone.  A prototype E Ink-only Android phone was demo’d at Mobile World Congress. The tradeoff is full color for great readability and simplicity in any light. Kind of like silent movies. Watches, anyone?  Springwise Hat tip to TANN Ireland’s Toni Bunting.

Robots with tactile sensors for pressure and adjustable gripping are necessary but at present don’t come cheap–sensors are about $16,000 for a robot hand. The cutely named TakkTile, developed by grad student Leif Jentoft and postdoctoral fellow Yaroslav Tenzer at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, may be the answer. “At the heart of the device is a tiny air pressure-sensitive digital barometer, of the type already commonly used in things like cell phones and GPS units. A layer of rubber is vacuum-sealed onto it.” Beyond robots, uses envisioned are toy animals that respond to being petted and medical devices that assist with surgery. New sensor designed to give robots a gentler touch – on a budget (Gizmag)

Your Friday robot fix: senior housing helpers, getting more humanoid

Care Innovations, which has no stakes (thus far) in robotics, highlights what robots can do and change in the senior housing area in this (sponsored) article in Senior Housing News. Featured: the ‘Hector’ assistance robot, developed by the EU’s CompanionAble Project [TTA 23 August]; ‘Monitoring Platform 3.0’  iPad and iPhone mobilizers such as Helios [TTA 2 Oct]; as ‘little armies of telepresence’ for non-emergencies (a small mention of telecare here); solving the worker shortage [TTA 19 May 11 on Robosoft and the Kompaï care robot, which Editor Steve has been following ever since, recently updated] and enabling independence [Robot & Frank, anyone?]

But a problem with more humanoid robots like Roboy is not developing arthritis but an inherent stiffness in the joints. COMAN, from the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), mixes in compliant joints to make them less so, and safer (pulling a robot off the floor can be hazardous for your joints!) This Humanoid Robot Gets Pushed Around But Stays on Its Feet (IEEE Spectrum) Another hat tip to Toni Bunting, TANN Ireland.