University robots to improve the care of older people, patients and autistic children

Edge Hill University's Computer Science Department is building pioneering robots to help monitor and care for older people, patients and autistic children.
A team of students have spent the summer teaching Robbie, a toddler sized robotA team of students have spent the summer teaching Robbie, a toddler sized robot
A team of students have spent the summer teaching Robbie, a toddler sized robot

A team of students have spent the summer teaching Robbie, a toddler sized robot, to recognise 90 common objects as well as human actions and emotions.

Thanks to the availability of large-scale annotated images, Robbie can now learn from these images and then use his eyes to recognise items and actions, guess the gender and estimate the age of the person in front of him and identify if they’re sad, surprised, happy, angry or disgusted.

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He speaks aloud and will say phrases such as ‘you are eating a banana’ and ‘you are a male, aged 37 and you are happy today’.

A team of students have spent the summer teaching Robbie, a toddler sized robotA team of students have spent the summer teaching Robbie, a toddler sized robot
A team of students have spent the summer teaching Robbie, a toddler sized robot

It’s hoped Robbie and robots like him will be able to become companions to the young and old and monitor their daily activities, anything from how many times and when they have a drink to what they eat and any activities they complete.

Ardhendu Behera, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science who is leading the project, said: “There is lots of research involving robots and they are already used widely in industrial applications such as manufacturing, service sectors and health procedures such as keyhole surgery.

“However they are not yet used in the social care sector where we see huge potential for development and growth. Robots like Robbie could be used in so many situations and settings to monitor vulnerable people.

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“Initially we see Robbie being most useful in residential care homes where he can be a companion to residents and can keep an eye on them, watching and recording what they eat, drink, if they take their medication, their emotions and more.

A team of students have spent the summer teaching Robbie, a toddler sized robotA team of students have spent the summer teaching Robbie, a toddler sized robot
A team of students have spent the summer teaching Robbie, a toddler sized robot

“Similarly we think Robbie would be very helpful in the diagnosis of learning disabilities such as autism. It’s difficult to diagnose children in a short clinical session such as at a doctor’s surgery, but if a robot could report on the child’s behaviour and activity over say a 24 hour period this would massively help understand that child’s routine.

“In modern times with our aging society, we believe robots can play a vital role in the care of older people. They could also be used in a traditional home setting, observing an older person between visits by a carer or relative for example. The possibilities are endless.”

Ardhendu is currently in talks with West Lancashire Borough Council and Home Instead Senior Care residential care providers about trialling Robbie in a care home setting to gain ‘real’ data.

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Ardhendu added: “This project stemmed from an eight week summer project providing career development opportunities for students funded by the University’s Student Opportunity Fund. It’s a framework I plan to develop and offer to students each year to drive the project forward.”

Zachary Wharton, 21, a second-year student, said: “It’s been great working on a real research project and I’ve learnt so much about programming and handling data sets.”

Earlier this year, Edge Hill launched the Student Opportunity Fund (SOF) to enable students to take advantage of career enhancing and life changing opportunities.

The fund ensures that costs are not a barrier to students making the most of their experience at Edge Hill. It allows undergraduate students to apply for up to £2,000 which can help towards the cost of activities designed to prepare them for the future and enhance their employability skills.