One of the main challenges facing today’s society in developed countries is the growing aging of the population. People’s life expectancy has continued to increase in recent decades, and many developed countries, both inside and outside Europe, are facing this new reality. Moreover, in Spain, the low birth rate means that the population pyramid is inverting, which implies having more elderly people than young people who can care for them, generating a major problem in relation to their care. For this reason, considerable efforts are currently being made to modernize and strengthen all social services, with special attention to long-term care, promoting innovation and a person-centered care model.
The inclusion of social robots in the environment of the elderly can serve as a solution to try to alleviate this situation. In this context, in the project called «Social robots for physical, cognitive and affective stimulation of the elderly» (ROSES), with reference: RTI2018-096338-B-I00, from which the present proof of concept project derives, the construction of 3 types of robotic platforms, specifically designed for the physical, affective and cognitive stimulation of elderly people, was proposed. These stimulation activities have the potential to help elderly people maintain their functional abilities, improve their quality of life and increase their autonomy.
The three types of robotic platforms that have been developed in the context of the ROSES project are: a desktop robot (cognitive, affective and physical stimulation); a pet/huggable robot (affective stimulation); and a mobile robot (physical stimulation).
Of these three types of robots, the desktop robot, known as Mini, is the one for which the most laboratory prototypes have been built. In fact, Mini has been brought into real-world settings on more occasions despite limited access due to the pandemic. This desktop platform is also presented as the most complete and versatile, as it can be used to perform a wider range of elderly care and entertainment activities.
However, the current prototype needs to increase the degree of robustness and technological maturity to achieve a competitive product with high social and economic impact. This includes the fact that it can be manufactured and commercialized in series, in addition to being able to operate uninterruptedly without suffering a high degree of wear, damage, deterioration and without functional failures. For this reason, the MENIR proof of concept project will focus on the development of a new version, both hardware and software of this Mini robot.
In relation to the technological maturity level, tests have already begun in relevant environments, such as day centers for the elderly, with real users. This is the reason why we can consider that we start from a TRL5. This proposal proposes to increase this level to TRL7, which implies the development of a prototype of the industrializable robot and pilot testing in the real environments proposed in the proposal: day centers, nursing homes and private homes.
Grant PDC2022-133518-I00
Funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by the “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR.
