Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
WAM Arm Robots Help Patients Get Dressed
Japan's Nara Institute of Science and Technology has created the world's first robot system that can help clothe elderly and physically disabled people. Barrett's contact-compliant robot arms follow the motions of a human caregiver; reinforcement learning takes only minutes.
(WAM Arm Robots Help)
Taking clothes on and off are essential activities in daily life, but for elderly and physically challenged people this can be difficult due to limited mobility in the upper limbs. At the same time, there is a key technical problem. Specifically, it's difficult to calculate the optimal robot motions for manipulating a soft, floppy material like clothing, while in contact with a person of unique shape and constantly changing posture.In response, the group headed by Associate Professor Tomohiro Shibata developed a dual-arm robot system that can acquire clothing-assistance motions applicable with a small number of trials. This is accomplished by performing a trial-and-error search called "reinforcement learning" based on actual motions used for clothing assistance as demonstrated by a human being.
I was really struck by this comparison of human (organic biological systems) and robots:
According to the team's leader, Associate Professor Tomohiro Shibata of the Mathematical Informatics Laboratory, "Barrett's robots are unique in the world for their ability to react to subtle physical interactions, enabling our algorithms to learn to dress people." Barrett CEO Bill Townsend adds, "We are very impressed that Dr. Shibata's team has accomplished such a complex task. It takes an infant more than 10,000 hours of learning to master the motor skills of dressing. With this new application, robotic arms can learn to dress people in just minutes."
Philip K. Dick anticipated this development in his 1953 story The Impossible Planet, which featured the robant:
Behind Norton came a withered old woman. Beside her moved a gleaming robant, a towering robot servant, supporting her with his arm. The robant and the tiny old woman entered the control room slowly...
Update 15-May-2021: For an earlier reference, see the electrical valet from The Lord of Tranerica by Stanton Coblentz. End update.
From Marketwire via Medgadget; see also the Barrett WAM robot site.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/20/2011)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.' - Philip K. Dick, 1953.
DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.' - Schachner and Zagat, 1931.
Vero Robotic Dog With Vacuum Cleaner Feet
'Out of warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice darted.'
Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...'
Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...'
Did Frank Herbert Predict Bistable Displays Like E-Ink?
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
Monolith One Giant Industrial Metal 3D-printer
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Mooncrete' Lunar Regolith Concrete (LRC)
'And here they began to build...'
China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
MAI-Voice-2 Microsoft Text-To-Speech
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.
Prufrock-MB2 Ready In Nashville
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.'
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
The Amazing Lightfoot Electric Scooter With Solar Assist
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
Fully Electric, Fully Automated Vegetable‑growing Agribots
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'
