The safety of mobile service robots is essential, especially when they move in public environments. Particularly challenging are applications in the environment of stationary care where the robots get in contact with people who are not familiar with them and who may require special protection. Therefore, in the S³ research project (2018-2021) technologies have been developed that improve the perception and manipulation capabilities of service robots, with a particular focus on safety. The project received funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The further development of appropriate software technologies for environment detection, the safe grasping of objects and their integration on the "Care-O-bot® 4" research platform were the focus of the work at Fraunhofer IPA. This enables the robot to reliably recognize people, determine what they are doing thanks to machine learning methods, and adapt its behavior in such a way that everything runs safely. The researchers validated the developed technologies in an exemplary application, which can be seen in the video. In the context of this application, the robot supports the staff of a residential care facility by fetching empty bottles from residents' rooms, taking them to the kitchen of the living area where the staff can refill them, and finally returning them to the residents' room.
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