Robots That Help The Disabled (With Video)

• tech watch
• robotics
• health

Daily assistance to disabled people at home increasingly has been the domain of skilled dogs and even monkeys. Inspired by these highly trained animals, Georgia Tech’s Healthcare Robotics Lab has developed a robot that can perform basic household tasks on command.

The El-E helper bot was first programmed to retrieve objects designated by a human using a laser pointer. Multiple cameras helped guide a grasping, two-fingered hand to the target. After successful early trials, the lab expanded El-E’s interface to combine voice commands with the laser to accomplish more complex tasks, like opening doors (albeit slowly—see the sped up video of EI-E opening a door below). The robot recognizes words such as “tug” or “push” and performs the action on an object illuminated by the laser. But the robot still has some training ahead before it can work outside the lab. “The home environment can be very complex,” developer Charles Kemp says.

“El-E still needs to learn what to do when there is a bit of clutter.”

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