Open innovation to further develop people-friendly robot technology
Georgo Angelis, senior technologist, Philips Apptech
Philips Applied Technologies announced a new robot technology that allows people to safely benefit from robot assistance in a wide range of human-interaction applications. The company is demonstrating the technology in the form of a people-friendly robot arm. Within our robotic innovation program we will make a limited number of the Philips experimental robotic arms available for universities to maximize innovation, to encourage collaboration and sharing of knowledge.
Robot technology is widely seen as a technology that is potentially able to assist people at home, in care centers and at work. Only up to now safety and costs were significant roadblocks. One of the main considerations while developing the robot arm was to ensure safety. Robotic devices built using our new robot technology exert precisely controlled dynamic forces on their environment and objects they need to handle. The robot arm senses people’s whereabouts and immediately alters its motion or stops in order to avoid contact. Where physical contact does occur, the measured impact levels are far below those ragarded acceptable for judging safety. The technology also allows easy programming to perform specific tasks.
In addition to safety, Philips Applied Technologies has paid a great deal of attention to cost effectiveness, making the technology suitable for a wide range of applications where people need a helping hand. The build cost for the advanced prototype being demonstrated was already substantially less than that for many commercially available robot arms.
People who could benefit from robot technology are e.g.:
– elderly or disabled people who need less support as devices using robot technology can help them with simple household tasks as a care assistant;
– care providers who can count on a helping hand when performing enduring tasks such as lifting people;
– wheelchair-bound people who can rely on a wheelchair-mounted robot arm to open doors or perform other tasks, allowing more independent living;
– doctors who need to perform complex interventions, where robot technology can take over tasks or improve the doctor’s ergonomics, relieving the doctor from physical stress;
– factory workers who are assisted by a robot, either so that they can work more efficiently and cost-effectively, or so that they can avoid the need for expensive safety measures.