A new robot has been developed by scientists that can imitate the two-handed movements of care-workers as they assist an individual with dressing.
Previous assistive dressing robots were single-armed machines, which have been found to be uncomfortable or impractical for the person being cared for. To address this issue, Dr Jihong Zhu from the University of York’s Institute for Safe Autonomy proposed a two-armed assistive dressing system inspired by caregivers who have shown that specific actions are needed to reduce discomfort and distress for the individual.
This technology could potentially revolutionize the social care system by allowing care-workers to spend more time on the well-being of individuals rather than practical tasks.
Dr Zhu collected data on care-worker movements during dressing exercises, allowing a robot to observe and learn from human actions and generate a model that replicates these movements. This research revealed the importance of using two hands for dressing and the angles at which the arms should move.
The team also developed algorithms to make the robotic arm flexible enough to perform pulling and lifting actions while also being responsive to human touch to stop or alter movements if necessary.
Dr Zhu emphasized the importance of trust in human-robot interactions and highlighted the need to test the robot’s safety features and acceptance by those who may benefit from it the most.
The research, in collaboration with TU Delft and Honda Research Institute Europe, was supported by funding from the Honda Research Institute Europe.
