Once we reach a particular age, it gets tougher and tougher to do our everyday tasks. Luckily, there are lots of gadgets and tech devices that help the elderly to live alone with dignity. However, Toyota Research Institute (TRI) has created the ‘Gantry’ artificial intelligent robot as their latest research prototype. It is a home-based assistance robot that particularly designed to allowing older generations to live their life independently.
Unlike factories, navigating the robot in home environments is very challenging. Because every home is unique. And has different combinations of objects like appliances, cabinet, and staircase. As a result, Instead of programming the robot to do a specific task, they teach the robot with a different method called ‘fleet learning’. That means if we teach one robot via a person or in simulation to perform a task, then it shares the knowledge with all other robots.
AI robots that can empower elderly people in their own homes
Moreover, TRI has designed two different types of ‘Gantry Robot’. One of them will hang and travel on the ceiling. And perform tasks such as clearing clutter, wiping surfaces, mopping floors, and loading the dishwasher while completely avoiding the obstacles on the floor.
TRI
TRI
TRI
Likewise, Another type of prototype robot can do all the above tasks as a floor-based mobile robot. This Idea comes to their mind when the team visits the homes of older adults in Japan. They believe that giving a completely automated lifestyle to elderly people might be physically beneficial but not emotionally.
Unlike the fully automated cooking gadget, the ‘Gantry’ artificial intelligent robot assist and help the elderly to do the tasks in their own way. That is to say, these robots are research prototypes, not product concepts. However, it will motivate and help them to develop the perfect algorithm in the future.
Source: Toyota Research Institute
