assist a person in his/her day-to-day tasks when he/she is alone…also able to go and get objects in another room and put in order those which are not at their right place…Romeo can also become a mobility assistant able to help a person to walk or get up from an armchair.”
Sounds a bit far fetched when the Japanese have been putting in so much effort in this direction but making such slow progress over the years? Read France Developing Advanced Humanoid Robot Romeo – an IEEE Spectrum article and interview with Aldebaran’s CEO Bruno Maisonnier to find out why they think they can achieve this ambitious target.
Thanks to Gareth Williams of T-Cubed Consultancy for the heads-up.
ROMEO – full-size care robot
The UK may have the lead in introducing and rolling out telecare technologies and services, and this will mean that increasing numbers of vulnerable people are able to remain in their own homes rather than in care homes. But can we find enough domiciliary care staff to support this growing army of people who have a right to expect higher standards of support? Could we afford to pay them even if we could persuade them to do these jobs? I suspect that the answer is no in both cases.
Whether we like it or not, increased use of telecare will lead to a need for more technology. The Japanese (and now the French) seem to think that the technology needs to be humanoid robots. I don’t; I think that we need a new class of assistive device that will help people and their carers to take the strain whether it’s in getting out of bed, getting dressed, getting up and down stairs or going out. It could be a more flexible hoist – or it could be an exoskeleton – but at least it should be conceived, designed and manufactured in the UK. So who do I have in mind? Nobody in particular, but as most of the world’s stair lift designers, production facilities and market are in the UK, perhaps we should start with the manufacturing companies.
Back to the ROMEO – no fewer than 12 French organisations are involved in the consortium to make this happen. Could we find 12 relevant companies in the UK who could work together on a new smart assistive device for frail and older people with mobility issues? I suspect not – but let me lay down the challenge for the industry to respond to.