A helping hand- robot for the disabled

Citation

(2002), "A helping hand- robot for the disabled", Industrial Robot, Vol. 29 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2002.04929fab.003

A helping hand- robot for the disabled

A helping hand- robot for the disabled

Keywords: Service robots, Disabled, Humanoid

The Shadow Robot Company, a robotics R&D company based in North London, has received a NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) Invention and Innovation award of £75,000, to develop a robot that can perform a wide variety of tasks for disabled people.

Shadow want to produce a multi-functional robot that can be guided, trained and programmed to carry out a wide variety of useful tasks for disabled people. Technology they have already developed, called “air muscles”, has been used to obtain the full functionality of the human hand. Systems based on the hand have the potential to make significant social contributions by enabling and empowering people through the creation of assistive devices. (see Plate 3).

The device Shadow developed will be able to move around and carry out tasks within the home environment out of view of the user, such as getting a glass of water in the middle of the night without the user having to get out of bed. The device will have a hand and arm on a moving base, with remote control and camera systems, so the user can initially guide the robot through simple tasks. Over time, open-source software developed on these systems will be used to perform more complex tasks automatically.

Plate 3 The shadow hand

The Shadow Robot Company is a group of inventors working towards the long-term goal of producing a useful humanoid robot. Managing Director, Richard Greenhill, has been working in the robotics field since 1981 and in 1987 he set up the Shadow Robot Project where a group of enthusiasts would meet once a week to build a bipedal robot. In 1997, the Shadow Robot Company was established as a company carrying out robotic research and prototyping. Since then the company has received a numer of contracts to build robots, including the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World and a Scandinavian toy manufacturer.

Jeremy Newton, NESTA's Chief Executive, comments on this latest award: “Our economy will become more and more dependent upon our creativity and our ability as a nation to harness new technology to stimulate new ideas. Shadow is meeting this challenge head-on and NESTA is delighted to be a part of this important innovation. The robot has real commercial potential for the assistive aids markets as well as offering substantial social benefits by empowering and enabling both the disabled community and an increasing ageing population.”

With NESTA's investment Shadow will be be able to construct a first working prototype of the assistive device. The prototype will be demonstrated by carrying out simple tasks for a user. Shadow will be actively seeking partners for the commercialisation of this system with the help of NESTA both during and after the period of the award.

As with all Invention and Innovation awards, NESTA has taken a stake in Shadow’s project. If this invention proves profitable NESTA will use the re-invested funds in other people and projects.

For more information visit: www.nesta.org.uk; www.shadowrobot.co.uk