Contracts awarded to further develop robots designed to make life better for the elderly
Three proposals, including an intelligent robot arm that provides support to people about to fall, a robotics device that aids the elderly when carrying out physical activities and a robot designed to help with household tasks, have been awarded contracts as part of the SILVER (Supporting Independent LiVing for the Elderly through Robotics) project. They will advance to the second phase of the Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) process.
Titled the “Helping Hand”, the robot arm detailed in the first proposal passively follows a user’s movements, becoming stiff and acting as a crutch when unstable situations are detected. It is designed to take away the feeling of instability during complex tasks for elderly and handicapped people, wherein a person’s hands and full attention are needed. In addition to offering daily support, the second proposal, known as the "Iron Arm", will collect data on the physical activities of elderly people, helping them to maintain muscle strength and increase life expectancy. It will be particularly relevant for those with reduced hand and arm functions.
The third proposal, the Lecorob robot, will help the elderly to grasp objects at various heights and can be used as an autonomous mobility device. The device will be programmed with software to facilitate collision avoidance, object manipulation, speech recognition, face recognition, object recognition and person tracking. The SILVER project aims to find new technologies to assist elderly people in their everyday lives by using PCP. The project also aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach in addressing societal and governmental needs.
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