Fraunhofer-GesellschaftDomestic Support from Semiautonomous Service Robots
Many older persons want to live for as long as possible in the familiar surroundings of their home.
Long-term support from relatives often is not possible, however, leaving many seniors on their own.
Studies show that domestic assistance usually becomes indispensable with increasing age.
The aim of the “SRS“ project was the development and testing of a teleoperated, semiautonomous service robot that is able to support older persons in the domestic environment.
This “shadow robot” stands in the stead of its users, e. g., of the children or relatives of the resident.
With its help, they can offer active support to the older person as if they were actually present.
For example, they can have the robot fetch things for the resident, or use it to communicate with relatives, or check that everything is in order in his or her home.
The users can also control the robot themselves on site, of course.
When family is not available, the robot can be controlled remotely from a call center, for example when it is not able to manage difficult tasks on its own.
In the framework of the “SRS“ project, twelve partners from science and industry were involved in the realization of the “shadow robot” on the basis of the “Care-O-bot®“ 3 robot assistant developed by the Fraunhofer Institute IPA.