Towards robotic assistants in nursing homes: Challenges and results - Robotics Institute Carnegie Mellon University

Towards robotic assistants in nursing homes: Challenges and results

Joelle Pineau, Michael Montemerlo, M. Pollack, Nicholas Roy, and Sebastian Thrun
Journal Article, Robotics and Autonomous Systems: Special Issue on Socially Interactive Robots, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 271 - 281, March, 2003

Abstract

This paper describes a mobile robotic assistant, developed to assist elderly individuals with mild cognitive and physical impairments, as well as support nurses in their daily activities. We present three software modules relevant to ensure successful human?obot interaction: an automated reminder system; a people tracking and detection system; and finally a high-level robot controller that performs planning under uncertainty by incorporating knowledge from low-level modules, and selecting appropriate courses of actions. During the course of experiments conducted in an assisted living facility, the robot successfully demonstrated that it could autonomously provide reminders and guidance for elderly residents.

BibTeX

@article{Pineau-2003-16893,
author = {Joelle Pineau and Michael Montemerlo and M. Pollack and Nicholas Roy and Sebastian Thrun},
title = {Towards robotic assistants in nursing homes: Challenges and results},
journal = {Robotics and Autonomous Systems: Special Issue on Socially Interactive Robots},
year = {2003},
month = {March},
volume = {42},
number = {3},
pages = {271 - 281},
}