A Multirobot System in an Assisted Home Environment to Support the Elderly in Their Daily Lives

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
• Gerontology and Assistive Technology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Increasing social isolation among the elderly necessitates innovative care solutions.
• Elderly individuals living alone face challenges in maintaining independence and well-being.
• Current assistive technologies often lack comprehensive support for daily living and emotional health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate a heterogeneous multi-robot system for elderly care.
• To enhance the autonomy and quality of life for elderly individuals living alone.
• To integrate AI for mood prediction and personalized activity suggestions.

Main Methods:

• Development of a multi-robot system: a monitoring mobile robot and a domestic manipulating robot.
• Integration within an Automated Assisted Living (AAL) environment with sensors, a medical bracelet, and an Android app.
• Utilizing ROS, IoT (Node-RED), and Home Assistant Platform for system integration and control.

Main Results:

• Successful integration and long-term testing of the system in a real-world environment.
• Semantic segmentation improved navigation and manipulation planning for the mobile robot.
• User interaction results demonstrated the system's effectiveness in proposing relevant activities based on emotional state.

Conclusions:

• The proposed multi-robot system effectively supports elderly individuals living alone, enhancing their autonomy.
• AI-driven mood prediction enables personalized activity suggestions, improving emotional well-being.
• This innovative approach empowers the elderly to maintain a good quality of life independently.