Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
RI-MAN Face Tracking, Electronic Nose Robot Update
RI-MAN, the healthcare robot, was featured in an earlier article (see RI-MAN And Roujin-Z Robots: Elder Care Fact And Fiction). Since that time, the RIKEN Bio-Mimetic Control Research Center team has updated and expanded the RI-MAN site, giving us more information on this great 'bot.
(RI-MAN feedback using tactile information)
The upper and left forearms of the RI-MAN robot have soft area tactile sensors that measure the magnitude and position of contact force when the 'bot picks up a patient.
(RI-MAN controllers distribute the computational load, reduce size)
RI-MAN robot also uses fifteen small controllers that operate the joints of the robot. These controllers perform dedicated motor and sensor control tasks. This distributed controller network avoids the concentration of computational loads on the main computer and also dramatically reduces the wiring complexity. Besides improving speed, it also helps make RI-MAN small and compact.
(RI-MAN has sound localization)
Using simple, cup-shaped "ears", RI-MAN can determine the horizontal direction of sound; changes in the sound spectrum enable judgement of front or rear direction for sounds.
(RI-MAN uses face recognition)
The RI-MAN robot can track human faces by integrating auditory and visual information. Stereo cameras record the scene; the position of human faces can be extracted. The robot also determines the position of a sound source (like the voice of a human being) using its "ears" as described above.
(RI-MAN robot has smell discernment [an electronic nose])
The RI-MAN robot has a gas sensor module that can identify smells that provide important information to caregivers, like the smell of urine from an incontinent patient. The sensing method is based on the nonlinear dynamic output of a gas sensor in response to periodic heating. Differences in dynamic response are used to determine the gas type and concentration. The two sensors installed on the right and left sides of RI-MAN's torso provide the information.
Finally, take a look at the video below which provides a good overview of the RI-MAN robot in operation.
(RI-MAN Healthcare robot)
If you are interested in other healthcare and homecare robots, take a look at these 'bots:
- InTouch Companion: Medical Rounding Robot
InTouch Health is now leasing a remote-controlled telepresence robot called The Companion to hospitals and nursing homes nationwide. - RI-MAN And Roujin-Z Robots: Elder Care Fact And Fiction
Hospital robots can go either way, according to sf writers and anime creators. Will we see both? - Smart Home Provides Elder Care
The University of Florida has created what they call "an assistive environment" which goes far beyond the assistive devices that we are used to hearing about.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/7/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.' - Philip K. Dick, 1953.
DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.' - Schachner and Zagat, 1931.
Vero Robotic Dog With Vacuum Cleaner Feet
'Out of warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice darted.'
Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...'
Did Frank Herbert Predict E-Ink Displays?
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
Monolith One Giant Industrial Metal 3D-printer
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Mooncrete' Lunar Regolith Concrete (LRC)
'And here they began to build...'
China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
MAI-Voice-2 Microsoft Text-To-Speech
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.
Prufrock-MB2 Ready In Nashville
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.'
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
The Amazing Lightfoot Electric Scooter With Solar Assist
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
Fully Electric, Fully Automated Vegetable‑growing Agribots
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'
Vero Robotic Dog With Vacuum Cleaner Feet
'Out of warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice darted.'
