Independent Design Project-Final paper
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individualroboticdesign2.docxRunning Head: INDEPENDENT ROBOTIC DESIGN 1
INDEPENDENT ROBOTIC DESIGN 7
INDEPENDENT ROBOTIC DESIGN
ASCI 531 – Robotics and Control
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide
Nov 10, 2019
Introduction
The invention of robotic system has supplemented the human unending needs. The understanding and creation of robotics is significant in the current society for various purposes. This paper will detail a rough design of robotic systems for the elderly. The concept of using robots to provide care for the elderly has been around for several years now. This idea has, however, become more relevant as the gap between the elderly and caregivers continues to widen. This issue is more evident in countries like Japan where it is estimated that by 2025 there will be a shortage of about one million caregivers. The United States is also facing the same challenge, as the elderly population is expected to rise to 26% by 2050 (Chamie, 2019). The cost of elderly care is also becoming uncontrollable. The shortage of caregivers together with the growing financial burden calls for a better way to care for the elderly population.
Literature Review
The world aging population is already elevated and continues to grow. The World Health Organization argues that by 2050 the aging population growth-rate will be at 22%. The shift in responsibility of the elderly towards the government has increased the burden of elderly care on the government. (Aging and health 2018) Joseph Chamie from Yale University asserts that improvement of healthcare is the reason for this fast aging population. Aging populations come with health challenges such as old-age and illness which require care. (Chamie, 2019) With the high number of elderly people, caregivers are becoming limited. If the problem is not resolved, the government may strain in supporting this population and increase death-rate resulting from poor care. The introduction of a robotic system with ability to bath, interact and feed the elderly would not only relieve the government of the financial strain but address the limited caregiver shortage (Espingardeiro, 2017).
The robotic system has unlimited capabilities necessary for today’s needs. The robot’s ability to sense, feel, respond and understand makes robots more efficient and equally capable. Robots are believed to be more accurate and reliable than humans and they do not fatigue from being overworked. The number of elderly people who rely on caregivers is growing much faster than caregivers are available. A caregiver’s ability to perform all duties and attend to the elderly is limited. The introduction of Robots to feed the elderly would provide relief for caregivers to work on other things (Bajcsy, Aloimonos & Tsotsos, 2018). This type of robots is ground operational.
Design and Development Process and Models
A study from the University of Washington has already been experimenting with various robotic models, the chosen robot for the task of feeding the elderly would use an entropic circuit. This model is best due to the ability to learn and adopt to various behaviors. The robot will contain a circuit that will measure how much energy is used when picking food pieces. RetinaNet will be used as an algorithm to detect the objects by scanning using shape and size to determine the food type. A controller will act as the brain for the robot in controlling all activities. Mechanical parts for movement of various parts (McQuate-Washington, 2019). According the website Robotics Tomorrow, this approach has been used in Japan. The strength of the model is the ability to learn and adopt to new behaviors. The weakness is the difficulty in feeding different types of foods especially the softer ones. The potential risks are unauthorized access and mechanical failures which may lead to interruptions. (Espingardeiro, A. 2017)
Related Research and Development
The University of Washington’s school of engineering and computation engaged in development of a folk feeding robot (McQuate-Washington, 2019). Results shows success. However, the robots had difficulties picking certain food types especially soft food. The problem was solved by a continuous practice in picking different food type for the robot to analyze the amount of pressure and adopt correctly.
Technological Advancements
The designing of feeding robots can borrow the knowledge of cognitive learning. The technology requires adaptation which is through understanding the human behaviors in order to use the robots. Though this technology may be expensive, it can solve a larger part of the feeding robotic system.
Design Overview
The Robot will have various parts for different purposes. The controller will be the brain to give direction to the robot’s movable parts. Mechanical parts such as motor, the piston, gripper/claw and gear will facilitate movement of various robotic parts. RetinaNet algorithm will scan to detect the pressure of the object (McQuate-Washington, 2019).
Figure 1. Adapted from The robot learns to feed folks dinner – Futurity, pp.3. McQuate-Washington Sarah, 2019, Washington University:
Design Decisions
RetinaNet is meaningful in scanning the food and the face of the person its feeding. This helps in skewness of the angles between the person and the folk when feeding. Controller conceptualizes the scanned items and sends the directions to various responsible parts. The mechanical parts do not involve wheels but has a folk for picking the food, piston to allow movement and motor to power the activities. This is because the folk helps in grapping the food unlike gripper which are not best suited for picking food. The RetinaNet will help in cognitive learning as scanning repetitive actions will enable the robot to adopt to the behavior faster.
Design Limitations
The robots find difficulty in picking up different varieties of food. The RetinaNet requires more time to study in order to learn and adopt more effectively. The system cannot pick up foods other than fruits but through continues learning, the system can adopt and perform more tasks.
Logic Design
For the robot to perform its actions, the fruits need to be sliced into required piece-sizes and placed on a plate. The robot which is stationed in proximity will sense the food on the plate through the RetinaNet scanner, determine the energy required to pick the food and pick it up. The Collector will then direct motion of mechanical elements to move the arm at a skewed angle towards the person, scan his face before directing the food near his/her mouth. The person will stretch slightly to grasp the food with the mouth and eat. After food has been taken from the folk the same process is repeated until the food is completed.
Improvements Needed
As has been discovered through the robotic experimentation at Washington University, there are limitations that prevent the complete implantation of the robot for caring for the elderly. My suggestion to remove the limitation of the precutting of the fruit into specific sized, would be to include a second robotic arm programmed to identify and resize or cut portions of the food. This would save the caregiver even more time because they would not have to precut the food. The same robotic arm would have a rotating end that would contain a spoon. That would enable the robotic arm to pick up softer foods such as mashed potatoes or even serve the elderly soup.
Due to dietary restrictions, many elderly people are unable to eat foods that require a lot of chewing. By adopting a second robotic arm that can both cut food smaller and also serve the softer food, the burden on the caregiver would be much lighter.
Proposed Model
Conclusion
The aging population across the world requires a better solution. The introduction and development of robotic system that can feed the elderly will serve best. This paper suggests two ground entropic circuit model robots. One designed specifically for using the fork, and the other for resizing portions and using a spoon. The robots will contain various parts and circuits such as RetinaNet which will be used to facilitate the operations and executive functions of the robot. Advancement of the robotic capabilities and challenges experienced by the robotic arms will be solved through cognitive learning which will enable it adopt new behaviors more efficiently.
References
Aging and health. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news- room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health
Assistive Innovations. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.assistive-innovations.com/robotic-arms
Bajcsy, R., Aloimonos, Y., & Tsotsos, J. K. (2018). Revisiting active perception. Autonomous Robots, 42(2), 177-196. Retrieved from
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10514-017-9615-3
Chamie, J. (2019). The Costly Blessings of Old Age | YaleGlobal Online. Retrieved from https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/costly-blessings-old-age
Espingardeiro, A. (2017). Robotics and Elderly Care: Delivery of Quality Care Through Automation and Data | RoboticsTomorrow. Retrieved from https://www.roboticstomorrow.com/article/2017/03/robotics-and-elderly-care-delivery- of-quality-care-through-automation-and-data/9750Links
Hall, C. (2017). A Robotic Arm Assist - Technology helps surgeon optimize total knee replacements. Retrieved from https://www.tmc.edu/news/2017/09/robotic-arm-assist/
McQuate-Washington, S. (2019). The robot learns to feed folks dinner - Futurity. Retrieved from https://www.futurity.org/robots-food-disabilities-caregivers-2006242- 2/
Siciliano, B., & Khatib, O. (Eds.). (2016). Springer handbook of robotics. Springer. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RTvADAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=Siciliano,+B.,+%26+Khatib,+O.+(Eds.).+(2016).+Springer+handbook+of+robotics.+Springer&ots=QSaeVLTJBD&sig=4DgIcLN3-Ky5HodipXBnf0gd2YE&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Siciliano%2C%20B.%2C%20%26%20Khatib%2C%20O.%20(Eds.).%20(2016).%20Springer%20handbook%20of%20robotics.%20Springer&f=false
