Two students at the University of Pennsylvania are modifying the Savioke Relay robot base by adding an arm for future manipulation tasks. The experimental robot will help older people pick up dropped items, fill a water glass and perform other tasks that require gripping.

Dan Popa and colleagues are developing an Adaptive Robotic Nursing Assistant.

The first iteration of the Robotic Nursing Assistant will be a "patient sitter," to be in the same room as a long-term care patient. It would fetch items, visually monitor the patient, check vitals, alert the nurse if a patient gets out of bed or read to the patient. The second application would be a "patient walker" that would walk with the patient, assess the risk of falls during the walk, push an IV pole or a wheelchair, and guide a patient to a desired location.

"Relay," a robot made by Savioke for the hotel industry, will be adapted by University of Pennsylvania researchers for eldercare by adding an arm and a gripper.

Credit: Savioke

A robot's view of Mr. Da Costa as they walk together down the hallway of an eldercare facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Da Costa is a participant in a project led by Mark Yim of the University of Pennsylvania to test how robots interact with older Americans in nursing homes.

Credit: Mark Yim, University of Pennsylvania