New Japanese robot lifts patients off floor into wheelchair

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Summary: Japanese researchers have developed a robot that can lift a patient up to 80kg (176 lbs) off the floor and onto a wheelchair, charting a path for high-quality care for its growing elderly population.

Researchers in Japan have unveiled a robot that can lift a patient up to 80kg (176 lbs) off the floor and onto a wheelchair.

Developed by a joint team at RIKEN and Tokai Rubber Industries (TRI), the robot, nicknamed RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance) 2,  uses high-precision tactile sensors and flexible motor controls to gently lift and transport patients from the floor or bed onto a wheelchair and vice versa. A human care-giver is still required to monitor and aid with embarking and disembarking the robot.

RIBA (Credit: RIKEN- TRI)

The robot frees care facility personnel of one of the most difficult and energy-consuming tasks that they are faced with roughly 40 times per day.

Shaped like a teddy bear, RIBA 2 is soft to the touch and responds to voice commands. It is more capable than its predecessor, RIBA (2009), which was the first robot able to lift a 61kg (134 lbs) patient from a bed to a wheelchair and back, but not from the floor.

RIBA 2 has new joints in its base and lower back to enable it to crouch down and lift a patient off a futon at floor level, the most physically strenuous task for care-givers. To accomplish this, it uses the first capacitance-type tactile sensors made entirely of rubber, say the researchers. These “Smart Rubber” sensors are printed in sheets and fitted onto the robot’s arms and chest to provide high-precision tactile guidance and allow the robot to quickly detect a person’s weight from touch alone.

Next for the team is to partner with nursing care facilities to test RIBA 2 and further tailor it to the needs of care-givers and their patients. They will also develop new applications in areas such as rehabilitation and take steps toward commercialization.

With an elderly population in need of nursing care projected to reach a staggering 5.69 million by 2015, Japan faces an urgent need for new approaches to assist care-giving personnel, giving RIBA 2, and robots like it a promising future.

Watch a video of RIBA 2 performing its tasks.

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Christopher Jablonski is a freelance technology writer.

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Meet MABEL, world's fastest robot with two legs (w/ video)

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Summary: The world’s fastest bipedal robot with knees has a human-like gait and reaches speeds of up to 6.8 miles per hour.

A two-legged robot at the University of Michigan can run like a human and reach a peak speed of 6.8 miles per hour. MABEL, as the machine is called, is believed to be the world’s fastest bipedal robot with knees.

Built in 2008 with funding from the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, MABEL has been in “training” for the last few years.

Researchers have been progressively improving the feedback algorithms that keep the bipedal robot balanced while reacting to its environment in real time.

It’s weight is distributed like a person’s and it has a heavier torso and light, flexible legs with springs that act like tendons.  Whereas other speed-walking robots achieve a flight phase–when both feet are off the ground–for less than 10 percent of each step, MABEL is in the air for 40 percent of each stride, much like a human.

“We envision some extraordinary potential applications for legged robot research: exoskeletons that enable wheelchair-bound people to walk again or that give rescuers super-human abilities, and powered prosthetic limbs that behave like their biological counterparts,” said Jonathan Hurst, now an assistant professor at Oregon State University, who helped create the robot.

The advantage of two-legged robots with good running form would give them an edge over wheeled-bots in rough terrain and inside places built for humans. They could one-day serve as robotic soldiers or rescuers, the engineers say.

“The robotics community has been trying to come up with machines that can go places where humans can go, so a human morphology is important,” said Jessy Grizzle, a U-M professor.

In the video below, the bar that MABEL is attached to guides it in a circular path. Also, you’ll see it speed up and then abruptly slow down several times on purpose.

(Source)

Christopher Jablonski is a freelance technology writer.

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Scientists develop robot that walks on water

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Summary: Chinese scientists report that they’ve developed an aquatic microrobot that mimics the water-walking abilities of water striders.

Walking on water is a way of life for some aquatic insects such as water striders. The tiny hairs on their long legs provide both a hydrophobic (water-repellent) surface as well as a large surface area to spread their weight across as they scoot over ponds, lakes and other waterways at mind-boggling speeds.

This remarkable ability has now been replicated in machine insects. Chinese scientists report that they’ve developed an aquatic microrobot that mimics the water-walking abilities of water striders.

Credit: American Chemical Society

The robot insect is faster, more agile and cheaper to fabricate compared to previous designs, making it a prime candidate for military spy missions, water pollution/supply monitoring, and other applications, the scientists say.

The robot has a body about the size of a quarter and is outfitted with ten superhydrophobic wire legs, and two movable, oar-like legs that are propelled by two miniature DC motors.

According to a study appearing in the journal, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, “The microrobot could not only stand effortlessly but also walk and turn freely on the water surface, exhibiting an interesting motion characteristic.” View the video (.avi).

“Because the weight of the microrobot is equal to that of about 390 water striders, one might expect that it will sink quickly when placed on the water surface,” the report noted.  Instead, the mechanical creature stands effortlessly on water surfaces and also walks and turns freely.

The study was funded by the Harbin Institute of Technology and Natural Science Foundation of China.

(Source: ACS News)

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Christopher Jablonski is a freelance technology writer.

View the original article here