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academies
October 22-23, 2018 | Frankfurt, Germany
International Conference on
Robo t i c s a n d A u t oma t i o n
B iomater ial s and Nanomater ial s
Joint Event
&
Journal of Biomedical Research | Volume 29
Welfare robotics in elderly care homes
Norbert Krüger
University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
T
he pressure caused by the demographic development in
Western European countries allows for easily creating very
good business models for the application of so called “welfare
robots” in care institutions for the elderly. In my talk, I will give
an overview of current developments in welfare robotics in the
elderly care sector, the technical problems that still need to
be addressed and the applications to be expected within the
next decade. In particular, I will talk about the SMOOTH project
(smooth-robot.dk)which stands for “Seamless human-robot
interaction for the support of elderly people”. In the SMOOTH
project, we focus on repetitive tasks that do not involved
manipulation such as transport of laundry, offering beverages
and guidance. To make such applications technically feasible, it
was important that the design of the robot simplifies a lot of
the technical problems involved. I will in particular talk about
the process that led to the design of SMOOTH robot that is
currently built by a Danish start-up company.
e:
Norbert.schartel@sciops.esa.intRobotics & Biomaterials 2018, Volume 29
DOI: 10.4066/biomedicalresearch-C6-017