Soon, robots will be able to help the elderly and disabled
answer the door, prepare a meal, take their medicine, and
even get from a bed to a wheelchair (). As the number of retirees in the U.S., Japan, and other parts of the
world continues to rise at an alarming rate, the need for
robotic assistants becomes more prevalent.
A number of factors play into this need. More and more
people are waiting until later in life to have children, making it difficult for adult children to care for elderly parents. And with the rising cost of healthcare, it's becoming increasingly costly for patients and their
families to afford home health aides, personal nurses, and the like. So if
robots can become affordable (and insurance companies would be willing to
contribute to the cost), the non-human caregivers could revolutionize the
way healthcare is provided.
The changing face of healthcare is prompting companies like Honda to
kick their research into high gear. Yet researchers disagree about how these
robots should appear and operate.
TWO RESEARCHERS, TWO OPINIONS
Hiroshi Ishiguro, a professor in Osaka University's Department of Adaptive Machine Systems, believes
robots should look, act, and even feel like humans. (). Yet Stephen Keeney, the
project leader for Honda America's North American Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility (ASIMO), says
they will have to look more artificial and like something out of a
sci-fi movie before humans will
accept them.
"The Japanese want humanoid robots,
especially the elderly," says Ishiguro.
"Japanese culture is very robot-centric,
as they are used as toys from early childhood, and children in Japan love to play
with real androids. There are even special
places for androids in Japan, and they
are constantly shown in cartoons and
movies. Therefore, Japanese people are
much more accepting of androids."
There's a different perspective in the
West, where Keeney says robots aren't
meant to replace human workers.
"Rather," he says, "they are meant to
be a machine to help make our lives better. We should always be cognizant that
ASIMO is a machine and should be
approachable and not be scary to children. It is a comfortable middle ground
between machine and humanoid
androids that others are working on."
ASIMO ON THE GO
Five unique
processing systems control the ASIMO,
and in terms of compute power, each system would rival today's top-end personal
computers. Honda's engineers also had
to devise complex algorithms for predictive step taking, including walking, running, running in circles, and climbing
steps. This was particularly challenging
because no study has ever really revealed
the logic behind how humans walk, shift
their weight, and avoid objects.
ASIMO is the culmination of 20 years
of research and development. It uses sensors and algorithms to process moving
objects and access distance and direction.
For example, ASIMO stops when someone walks in front of it. Much like bats
as they navigate and find prey, it also
uses supersonic waves to sense movement and map its environment.
Other sensors enable ASIMO to better interact with humans. It can recognize postures and gestures, distinguish
voices and sounds, identify the source of
sounds, and distinguish between up to
10 different human faces. It can even
address people by name.
Working in conjunction with an
infrared laser beam, two visual cameras
in the eyes and two infrared cameras help
ASIMO find objects on the floor up to
six feet away. The infrared cameras use
landmarks placed on the floor so ASIMO
can reposition and recalibrate itself within its environment. The markers consist
of two triangles with different markings, so ASIMO can differentiate between
them. It then uses itself and the two
markers to triangulate its position.
Network integration lets ASIMO
access the Internet and provide news,
weather, and other info. It can integrate
with a user's network system to access
information about people at an event,
show a picture of the visitor's face, and
then guide visitors to their destination.
A series of actuators in the robot's
joints provides 34 degrees of freedom,
including three for head rotation and
up/down movement, seven for each arm,
two for each hand (not including joints
for five bending fingers), six in each leg,
and one for the torso.