Student Projects
VE/VM450
Elderly Care Assistant Robot
Instructors: Prof. Chong Han
Team Members: Mengxuan Chen, Shiyi Liu, Xinyi Wang, Gracia Stefani,Chenxi Tai
Team Members: Mengxuan Chen, Shiyi Liu, Xinyi Wang, Gracia Stefani,Chenxi Tai
Project Video
Team Members
Team Members:
Mengxuan Chen, Shiyi Liu, Xinyi Wang, Gracia Stefani, Chenxi Tai
Instructors:
Prof. Chong Han
Project Description
Problem
It is mentioned in The China Development Report 2020 that China will enter an aging society. The number of elderly people is increasing each year while the medical human resources are facing significant shortage. This project is to provide an economic solution for those elderly people who live alone while need medical care both indoors and outdoors.
Fig. 1 Several health care robots sold on market [1]
Concept Generation
Five sub-systems are generated to solve this problem. A human-computer interactive interface based on Android tablet is designed to make the product easier to use. An automatic following system and a deformable chair are designed and integrated for outdoor company. An emergency call button is used to tackle critical situation. And a medicine reminder attached on the product and with self-set alarms and specification for medicines can remind the person to take medicine on time.
Fig. 2 Concept Diagram
Design Description
The interactive interface is based on HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Python with several packages such as Django, Webstock and Kivy. It provides functions such as weather report, medicine instruction and video entertainment. The automatic following system is based on Arduino with two ultrasonic sensors and one transmitter. With distance difference, the robot knows the location of the person. It can be used day and night. The deformable chair is integrated and can provide a seat when needed. The emergency call function is based on Android App and it can detect the Bluetooth signals from Arduino and invoke built-in phone calls App when physical button on the robot is pressed. The medicine reminder composes of a 3D-printed pill box container and a reminder set in Android tablet and is attached on the robot.
Fig. 3 The whole set-up system (left) and the home page of interface (right).
Modeling and Analysis
Calculations are used to design the wheels, choose the motor and materials for the chair. The radius of wheels should be around 6.7 cm, the motor should have enough torque and the material for the chair should have young’s modulus larger than 0.032 GPa. Solidworks is used for modeling the whole structure to make sure the functions work out smoothly.
Validation
Validation Process:
Since it is a functional and practical project, small tests are used to check each function. For automatic following system, turning, stop, barrier tests are used. For deformable chair, the load test is made. For software, each function is operated and tested to run smoothly. For emergency call function, phone calls are made to the previously set emergency contact person in a set of time.
Validation Results:
According to validation part, most specifications can be met.
√ Bear weight >=100kg
√ Medicine reminder >=3days
√ Automatic following ≈0.7m/s
√ Distance <=1.5m
√ Emergency call time <= 5s
√ Speech recognition accuracy =96%
√ means having been verified and · means to be determined.
Validation Process:
The validation is divided into 3 stages:
Simulation Test
DJI simulator is used to verify that the system communication is successful. Latency and transmission speed are checked at this stage.
2. Prototype Test
Huawei 4G module is connected to a real DJI M600 Pro drone. We control the drone from our App through the network we built, to verify the real-time control.
3. Prototype Remote Test
To test the control distance, we do the same test in stage 2 with the App terminal on Xuhui Campus, and the drone on Minhang Campus.
Validation Results:
According to validation part, most specifications can be met.
√ Distance from the user>=10km
√ Data transmission latency<=100ms √ Max transmission bitrate>=1Mbps
√ Visualization units in the UI>=3
The validation is divided into 3 stages:
Simulation Test
DJI simulator is used to verify that the system communication is successful. Latency and transmission speed are checked at this stage.
2. Prototype Test
Huawei 4G module is connected to a real DJI M600 Pro drone. We control the drone from our App through the network we built, to verify the real-time control.
3. Prototype Remote Test
To test the control distance, we do the same test in stage 2 with the App terminal on Xuhui Campus, and the drone on Minhang Campus.
Validation Results:
According to validation part, most specifications can be met.
√ Distance from the user>=10km
√ Data transmission latency<=100ms √ Max transmission bitrate>=1Mbps
√ Visualization units in the UI>=3
Conclusion
The elderly care assistant robot integrated with five main functions: human-computer interactive interface, automatic following system, emergency call, deformable chair and medicine reminder can effectively take care of the elderly people and accompany them both indoors and outdoors at low cost.
Acknowledgement
Sponsor: Jianrong Xiao from UM-SJTU Joint Institute
Chong han, Jigang Wu, Chengbin Ma and Mingjian Li from UM-SJTU Joint Institute
Xiang Hao, Hongfeng Xu, Hanchen Cui and Zhikang Li from UM-SJTU Joint Institute
Chong han, Jigang Wu, Chengbin Ma and Mingjian Li from UM-SJTU Joint Institute
Xiang Hao, Hongfeng Xu, Hanchen Cui and Zhikang Li from UM-SJTU Joint Institute
Reference
[1] Allaban, A.; Wang, M.; Padır, T. A Systematic Review of Robotics Research in Support of In-Home Care for Older Adults. Information 2020, 11, 75.
UM-SJTU JOINT INSTITUTE