PROMOVE: Advances in mobile robotics for promoting independent life of elders

This project aims at stepping forward to the development of personal robots able to serve elder people at home, who can benefit gaining in independence and quality of life. In this context, the research work will address some of the drawbacks found in the current robotic prototypes, like reliability and safety in home environments, proactivity and human-robot interaction. Thus, the project will face the design and implementation of new algorithms for robot perception and navigation, tailored to the particularities of the application, and will work towards endowing the robot with the required robustness and safety for live-long operation. Also, the robot will be provided with personal services for the user, i.e., measurement of physiological parameters, videoconferencing, access to internet, agendas, mail, etc. 

The robot will operate at different levels of autonomy, ranging from teleoperation, where a relative or caregiver virtually enters and visits the elder, to an intelligent and autonomous agent that safely behaves at home, interacts with the user, and provides valuable services. Remarkably, the proposal includes proof-of-concept and validation tests of the robotic system with real users, who will share their daily live with the robot during two separate time spans. The aplicant research team is a consolidated, active group with a strong background on mobile robotics and remarkable scientific results and developments in this field, as demonstrated by their international publications as well as the long history of participation in national and European projects. Particularly, this proposal relies to a great extend on the results obtained in the last projects in this line.

REFERENCE: DPI2014-55826-R
PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER: JAVIER GONZÁLEZ-JIMÉNEZ
INSTITUTION: UNIVERSITY OF MÁLAGA
FUNDED BY: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
PERIOD: January 2015 – December 2017

Publications

Publications in the scope of this project: