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SRS Deliverable 7.3 Due date: 30th April 2013
FP7 ICT Contract No. 247772 1 February 2010 – 30 April 2013 Page 1 of 43
DELIVERABLE D7.3
Technology Exploitation Plan
Contract number : 247772
Project acronym : SRS
Project title : Multi-Role Shadow Robotic System for Independent Living
Deliverable number : D7.3
Nature : R – Report
Dissemination level : RE – Restricted
Delivery date : 30-04-2013
Author(s) : Carsten Maple
Partners contributed : All
Contact : [email protected]
SRS
Multi-Role Shadow Robotic System for Independent Living
Small or medium scale focused research project (STREP)
The SRS project is funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) – Challenges 7: Independent living, Inclusion and Governance Coordinator: Cardiff University
SRS
Multi-Role Shadow Robotic System for Independent Living
Small or medium scale focused research project (STREP)
SRS Deliverable 7.3 Due date: 30th April 2013
FP7 ICT Contract No. 247772 1 February 2010 – 30 April 2013 Page 2 of 43
Revision History
Version. Authors Date Change
V1 Carsten Maple 30th/April/2013 Initial Draft
V2 Renxi Qiu, Dayou Li 20th/May/2013 Quality check and
Formation
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Executive Summary This report presents exploitation plans for the overall SRS system and for the individual SRS components developed. The exploitation plans demonstrates potential industrial and commercial applications of the SRS in current markets as well as for further developing, creating or marketing products and for providing services. Realistic commercial analysis and plans have been produced, informed by experienced individuals responsible for a number of successful start-up enterprises and university spinouts, to ensure the financial viability and market success of the plan. Enhancing quality of life of older people with limited healthcare resources is a challenge, given the increase in aging population and the reduced ratio between retired people and working people in Europe. Healthcare organisation, local authorities and governments have already under pressure. Integrated care that combines healthcare services, social services and self-care is recognised as a step forward to face the challenge.
The SRS exploitation will be focused on the implementation of integrated healthcare model that is innovative, practical, effective and home-based through piloting the model in regional health/social care organisations who are developing integrated care programmes. The model is based on a proven tele-presence assistive robotic system and service model developed in the SRS project. The system has the features of mobile platform, tele-operation and dedicated interfaces for older people, informal carers and healthcare professional. The service model, supported by the system well connects older people who live in their own home, remote informal cares such as family members, and 24/7 health/social carers. The model enables older people to reassure their family members and health/social carers that they can manage their life on their own, and to inform the carers in cases where they need help. It also empowers the later to provide the help needed by remotely operating the robot. Therefore, model improves communication and co-operation between health, social and informal carer, enhances quality of life of older people, contributes to European ICT industry. To pilot the model, partnership between technique providers and healthcare organisations within the consortium are to be established. The two sides will work together in analysing the existing health/social services to identify the best way of developing integrated care using the robotic system, in designing integrated healthcare pathways, in implementing the integrated healthcare pathways, including system customisation and training, and in dissemination and marketing.
Smart City Research Institute within the University of Bedfordshire has been established and is acting as a broker for services and intellectual property created by the SRS consortium. It should bring components for developing semi-autonomous robotic solutions to be commercialised in two to three years i.e. in 2015-2016. To ensure the financial viability and market success of the plan, details on product, services, applications, potential market, distribution, communication message and potentially interested industrial customers are explored. Exploitation on system level is presented under the commercialising of semi-autonomous service robots. The target is to bring a variation of the robot on the market by the end of 2018. Initially, the robot might come with a high cost. Finally, in long term (by the end of 2022), further evolutions of the solution will be completed. As the development and the marketing of the kind of SRS robot will still require some level of investment and this is analysed; potential end users, the targeted groups and a six-year projection without the sales of the Care-o-Bot3 are also given in the document.
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The document is organised as follows. Section One presents our vision of the application of SRS systems in Future Cities initiatives. Section Two gives an introduction to the existing assistive robot products currently in the international markets and worldwide healthcare market. Section Three explains the exploitation plan for the overall SRS robots. Section Four gives focuses on the exploitation plan for SRS components. Section Five tackles the standard issue. Finally, Section Six summaries Year three dissemination activities.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... 5
1 Vision ................................................................................................................................................ 6
2 Market analysis ................................................................................................................................ 8
2.1 The Ageing Population .............................................................................................................. 8
2.2 Supporting Older People ........................................................................................................... 8
2.3 The Future of the Robotics Market ........................................................................................... 9
2.4 Estimating the future World Robot Healthcare Market............................................................ 9
2.5 Future Cities and Smart Homes Markets .................................................................................. 9
3 Exploitation plan for SRS system .................................................................................................... 11
3.1 Business Summary ................................................................................................................... 11
3.2 Application .............................................................................................................................. 12
3.3 Products and services .............................................................................................................. 12
3.4 Potential market ...................................................................................................................... 16
3.5 Distribution .............................................................................................................................. 19
3.6 Price ......................................................................................................................................... 25
3.7 Communication ....................................................................................................................... 25
3.8 Capitalisation ........................................................................................................................... 26
3.9 Impacts and long term viability ............................................................................................... 26
4 Exploitation Plan for SRS at Component Level ............................................................................... 31
4.1 Products and Services ............................................................................................................. 31
4.2 Potential market ...................................................................................................................... 35
4.3 Distribution .............................................................................................................................. 36
4.4 Communication ....................................................................................................................... 36
5 Control Systems .............................................................................................................................. 39
6 Dissemination ................................................................................................................................. 40
References ............................................................................................................................................ 42
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1 Vision
The vision of the SRS Project is to provide a basis for fundamental change in the delivery of robust, reliable and sustainable healthcare in the home through novel academic advances and the commercialisation of products and services. The SRS project has delivered a number of innovations and the team behind the project are committed that the project leaves a legacy beyond the initial funding from the EU FP7. To ensure that there is a solid basis for development concerning healthcare in the home, the team have encapsulated the innovations in the form of research papers that will provide a platform upon which future academic and industrial endeavours can build. The team has also developed a strategy to exploit the new products and innovations developed throughout the project. The tools, techniques and technologies developed in the SRS project can play a major part in the implementation of innovation from a number of products outside of SRS. When examining potential markets for SRS products and services the team decided that the biggest area of development is to align with the Future Cities Agenda and the Integrated Care. Cities are engines of economic growth but are facing problems caused by changing climate, population growth, and resource limitations [1]. Future Cities encourage innovative solutions that integrate cities' sub-systems, including health, energy, water, waste, communications, buildings and transport [2] to address economic growth, quality of life and the optimal use of resources. There is a rapidly growing market for such solutions in Europe and worldwide [3]-[6] and the team will concentrate on this market. Healthcare for older people is one of the key issues in Future Cities as it not only concerns the quality of life of the older people but also with the optimal use of limited healthcare resources, given the rapid growth of aging populations. The current major trend in the development of healthcare provision for older people who live in their own homes is to concentrate on the increasing interoperability of solutions, so that efforts from all parties, including the end users, healthcare professionals and family members can come together to create synergy in terms of integrated care. SRS can play a significant role in the integrated care for Future Cities. SRS is semi-autonomous and can be remotely controlled. Although this feature is initially designed due to the fact that fully autonomous homecare robots are virtually impossible, it does serve as a platform that connects SRS robots, the users, healthcare professionals and family members together, and hence has potential in assisting achieve the aim of interoperability within the smart living environments to support integrated care for the relevant population. Therefore, there is a natural link between the exploitation of SRS and the integrated care for older people under Future Cities. SRS can be fully physically connected to the smart living environment with its well-developed communication channel and interfaces that are designed to enable the remote control of the system. This connection forms a strong basis for implementing interoperability of SRS within smart living environments. The following are further developments that will need to be achieved in order to fully implement the interoperation of SRS within smart living environment: A task planner to coordinate SRS, other high-tech/smart devices within and outside of smart living environment, healthcare professionals and family members to perform integrated care tasks in a coordinated manner.
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Safety techniques to ensure the safety of the users as well as the systems (SRS and other high-tech/smart devices). Security techniques to identify and assess security threats, identify and assess the vulnerabilities of the smart home information system, investigate the impacts of the threats, and select and implement appropriate countermeasures. New technical standards to standardise the process of adding smart devices such as the SRS that are additional to the existing smart devices in smart home environments for the purpose of jointly integrated care. A low cost, scaled down and modularised robotic solution to facilitate public purchasing of innovative solutions derived from the simplified SRS products and services. A Smart City Technologies company (SCT) will be set up by the University of Bedfordshire based on its current Smart City Research Institute. All SRS partners will be the “share holders” of the company. This company will act as a broker for SRS service model through developing partnership between the company and local authorities and healthcare organisations. SCT will take over the partnership between the technical partners and the future pilot healthcare institutions/partners. Under the framework of the partnership, SCT will provide with technical support and training for the selected pilot institutions. The shares of profit owned by the pilot institutions will largely cover the cost. The institutions will pay the offset. SCT will develop further markets for the service model and products developed in the project using the model of the partnership. Candidate local authorities and healthcare organisations are identified in Section 3.5 - distribution. Individual end users who are interested in purchasing the product to improve their independence in daily life and reduce the burden of care will be able to do so from Franunhofer IPA – the manufacturer of the Care-O-bot 3 or Robotnik, the future manufacturer of the low-cost robotic product. They are also the share holders of SCT. The individual buyers can sign up a contract with SCT for service provision.
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2 Market analysis
In order to estimate the size of the future global robot healthcare market, a number of statistics and trends can be used. Clearly we are experiencing significant advances in medical expertise which is ensuring a longer life expectancy for people globally. This is coupled with a growth in the use of robots, both in industrial and medical circumstances and also in a personal capacity. 2.1 The Ageing Population
There are a number of reports around the world showing current demographic trends; all of these show that there has been an increase in human life expectancy. Not only have we seen an increase in the number of people of an older age, but also since the older population has grown faster than the total population, the proportion of older people relative to the rest of the population has increased considerably. Global figures suggest that 1 in every 12 individuals was at least 60 years of age in 1950, and 1 in every 20 was at least 65 [7]. Fifty years later, in 2000, the profile had increased to 1 in every 10 aged 60 years or older and 1 in every 14 aged 65 or older. Predictions presented in the report by [7] indicate that by 2050, more than 1 in every 5 people in the world will be aged 60 or over, and 1 in every 6 will be at least 65 years old. The report also considers demography relative to the development stage of the nation. Since more developed nations are, in general, at a more advanced stage of the demographic transition; the proportions of older individuals are already significantly higher than in developing nations. The proportion of the population that was over 60 in developed nations in 1950 was 12% and in 2000 that had risen to almost 1 in 5 people. In less developed countries there has been a growth from 6% to 8% of people aged 60 or over, during the same period. By 2050, 1 in every 3 persons living in the more developed regions is likely to be 60 or older, and about 1 in every 4 is projected to be 65 or older. In the less developed regions, nearly 1 in every 5 is projected to be over 60, while 1 in every 7 is projected to be over 65. Europe currently has the highest proportion of older people and is projected to remain so for at least the next 50 years. It is estimated that 37% of the European population will be 60 or over in 2050, a large increase from the 20 percent that were that age in 2000, and that in Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Japan, Slovenia and Spain the figure will exceed 40%. The figure predicted for those to be 65 or older is almost 30%, double the figure in 2000, with estimates for the seven aforementioned countries being greater than 1 in 3 (with the exception of the Czech Republic). 2.2 Supporting Older People
With such an ageing population, and there being relatively fewer younger people available to care for these older people the issue of mobility and support for older people is of increasing concern. A recent report [8] stated that over 11 year period of the study, there was a significant increase in the reports of use of special equipment (such as a cane, wheelchair, special bed, or special telephone), from 520 per 10,000 in 1997–99 to 684 per 10,000 in 2005–7. Significant increases in reports of three particular conditions that respondents identified as the causes of their difficulties were consistent with finding that there was an increased prevalence rate of mobility-related lower-body difficulties. The same study found that approximately 250 per 10,000 needed help with instrumental activities of daily living only, and with activities of daily living (133 or 176 per 10,000). In 2005, 88% of older people living in the community who needed help with two or more personal assistance tasks
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received assistance from family and other unpaid caregivers, and only 29% received services from paid providers [9]. Evidently, with the ageing population becoming so large it is going to be increasingly difficult for family helpers or healthcare workers to adequately undertake this duty. In any case, it has been reported that although family caregivers provide essential long-term services and support, they are often at risk of becoming patients themselves because of the physical and emotional stress of care giving [10]. As Kuo et al [11] state “these urgent issues have promoted a variety of research initiatives that have investigated the needs of older people and the ability of robotics technology to provide solutions. In the last two decades, many robots had been developed to promote independent living and provide enhancements to the quality of life of older people.”
2.3 The Future of the Robotics Market
Estimates regarding the size of the market for robots show that it is a very significant and growing market. The market for robots and robot-related products was worth approximately $21 billion in 2010 according to a recent economic report [12]. The market is expected to grow to nearly $22 billion in 2011 and further to $30 billion by 2016, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7% between 2011 and 2016. A recent report stated that “Increasing ageing population concerns are driving the need for domestic and personal service robots. Efficient and advanced robots with lower power consumption are the need of the hour” [13]. The report continues to explain that in the “personal service robotics market, domestic robotics market is the largest segment; and is expected to reach US$1.97 billion by 2014 at a CAGR of 52%. The high market size of domestic robots is mainly due to demand of robots for assistance in household tasks and act as companion.” Asia is expected to have the large demand for personal service robots, given its population size and commitment to embracing technology, but the report finds that “Europe is expected to have the second-highest market for service robots.” 2.4 Estimating the future World Robot Healthcare Market
Estimating the market for Robot Health Care globally is not an easy task. However, it is clear that there will be significant growth. Analysts at TechNavio forecast the Global market for Robotics in Healthcare to grow at a CAGR of 13.5 percent over the period 2011-2015. If we consider this view, along with the supporting evidence of growth in the ageing population, the proportion of those older people that will require assistance in everyday tasks, the fact that age has not been seen to be a barrier to robot acceptance, and the predicted growth of the general robotics market we can feel confident about the significant growth in the multi-billion pound market. It is reasonable to estimate the value of the healthcare robot products and services market in Europe to be of the order of €500 million and set to grow. 2.5 Future Cities and Smart Homes Markets
Smart Homes
Smart homes offer great potential for significant improvements in the living standards of individuals; benefits include enhanced safety and security features, centralized control of home, remote access, and convenience. They also act as an alternative for the elderly who want to live independently and with greater safety. Apart from aged individuals, young technology savvy and affluent individuals are
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also the target population for smart homes. The U.S holds maximum share of this market; however, the market is gradually shifting towards Europe and Asia [20] The global market for smart home is forecast to exceed $44bn in five years [21]. In Europe, there is a growing awareness for the need to care for a rapidly-aging population which will be a significant market driver than in other regions, such as North America. In addition, Europeans feel a strong desire to provide home care rather than move the elderly to nursing homes. Healthcare applications are seen as longer-term drivers due to multiple regional public administrations and the need to develop highly-reliable systems [22]. Presently, there are 5.8 million smart homes in Western Europe with a projected increase to 32.5 million by 2017 [22]. Worldwide, it is expected that this number would be 160 million by 2017 [23]. The European smart homes market is estimated to grow from $1,544.3 million in 2010 to $3,267 million in 2015, at an estimated CAGR of 16.2% from 2010 to 2015. Rising demand for energy efficient systems, growing number of venture capital funding, rising security issues and increasing aging population have increased the demand for smart homes in Europe [24]. Future cities
The next 40 years will see an unprecedented transformation in the global urban landscape. Between 2010 and 2050, the number of people living in the cities will increase from 3.6 billion to 6.3 billion. Almost all of that growth will occur in developing countries. By 2025 there will be 37 megacities, each with a population greater than 10 million; 22 of those cities will be in Asia. The impacts of this new phase of urbanization on the global economy and on existing urban infrastructure and resources are already being felt. They are also spurring innovation in urban design, technologies, and services. Trillions of dollars will be spent on urban infrastructure in this period, presenting an immense opportunity for new transport management systems, smart grids, water monitoring systems, and energy efficient buildings. Information and communication technologies will be deeply embedded in the fabric of both old and new cities and will change the way we think of city operations and how we live and work in these environments. The market will grow from $6.1 billion annually in 2012 to $20.2 billion in 2020 [25].
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3 Exploitation plan for SRS system
3.1 Business Summary
Smart City Research Institute (SCRI) within the University of Bedfordshire (BED) will act as a broker for services and intellectual property created by the SRS consortium. This Institute/company has the management, financial, human resources and marketing support of BED. There are a number of innovations and services, including open-source software products and SRS robots. The Institute/company has a mission of developing marketable solutions for real problems. While the open-source products would be available under a non-cost license, the integration and customisation of solutions would attract a cost, and form the revenue stream. The main exploitation activity starts with the establishment of partnership between SCRI, local authorities and healthcare organisations. With the partnership, SRS robotic systems will gain permissions from the local authorities and healthcare organisations to integrate into the existing healthcare pathways/models used by the institutions. SCRI will then provide the partnership institutions with support including analysing the existing healthcare pathways/models in terms of identifying the necessity for ICT, in particular, SRS systems, modifying the existing healthcare pathways/models to accommodate ICT and SRS, technical support as specified in 3.7, and training. For the open-source innovations and products, other than the SRS systems, it is proposed that rather than sell the software products, a model akin to the business model of Red Hat, amongst many others, would be used.
Information on what already exists
A technically tested prototype of the service exists? Yes
A business plan has been developed already for the service? Yes
A service already exists? Partial
Further localisation work is needed? Yes
Further integration work is needed? Yes
Existing services through SRS partnership :
Locations: CGSS – Galician Consortium of Social Services in Spain FDCGO – Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi Onlus in Italy Number of users: CGSS – 3000 day-care users six care homes with 400 residents FDGCO – Over 9.000 persons / day. Ownership: CGSS – about 70% supported by the Galician government FDGCO – Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, the largest private non-profit organization in the field of rehabilitation in Italy. Sustaining the services In Spain, CGSS provides day care service with telephone-based support at evening and night. The service is community-oriented and based on medium-size centres. Older people come to the centres
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during day time twice a week. Professional carers look after them during their stay in the centre. They stay in their homes during night, looked after by their children. The telephone based support provides the older people with advice and help in emergent cases. The centres are about 70% supported by the Galician government through the public dependency system and the rest by the end users (subject to the incomes). In Italy, the current model of home care after hospital discharge at FDCGO is that a care network is set up around the older person involving the municipal home assistants (social needs) and the local health authority (for the medical needs). A connection is ensured with the Don Gnocchi facilities by means of a case manager, who monitors the quality of care and activates possible interventions in case of outstanding needs.
3.2 Application
SRS are originally designed to enable robots to act as the shadow of older people’s children so that the robots can look after older people as their children. Adult children or healthcare professionals can also help older people through remotely controlling the robots to complete tasks when the robots cannot do so on their own. An SRS robot can easily be integrated in smart homes due to its remote controllable feature and the communication channels/interfaces developed, and hence use smart homes as platforms to communicate with other smart devices, healthcare professionals and family members. In this case, SRS robots can become a part of integrated care from sharing health-related data to participating to care activities. 3.3 Products and services
Products
An SRS robotic system is formed with a robot platform, user interfaces for local users, family members and healthcare professionals in 24/7 healthcare centres, and software components. Care-O-bot 3, as shown in Figure 1 is currently used as the robot platform for implementing the SRS concept and to demonstrate various user scenarios. The system is equipped with four drive wheels, a 7 DoF manipulator, a three finger gripper and a flexible interaction tray that can be used to safely pass objects between human users and the robot. The base includes a Li-ion battery pack for the robot, laser scanners, and a PC for navigation tasks. The torso sits on the base and supports the sensor carrier, manipulator and tray. It contains most of the electronics and PCs necessary for robot control. The manipulator is based on the Schunk LWA3, a 7-DoF light-weight arm. The arm is connected to a 7-DoF Schunk Dexterous Hand with tactile sensors in its fingers making advanced gripping possible. The sensor head carries high-resolution firewire (IEEE 1394) stereo-vision cameras and 3-D time of flight cameras, enabling the robot to identify, to locate and to track objects and people in 3-D. These sensors are mounted on a 4-DoF positioning unit allowing the robot to direct its sensors to any area of interest.
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Figure 1. Up Care-O-bot 3 robot platform from Fraunhofer IPA, Down SRS Mixed reality control interface under Stereo Vision There are three main modes of operation in SRS: 1) Autonomous mode: In this mode, the user issues a single high-level command such as “find
medicine box in kitchen” and the robot executes all necessary actions autonomously. This is the
main mode of operation for elderly users.
2) Semi-autonomous mode: If autonomous task execution is not possible, semi-autonomous
mode is the next-best choice. In this mode, the tele-operator operates the robot but the robot
assists as much as possible with its own intelligence. For example, the user can assist navigation by
clicking on a position on a map and the robot navigates there autonomously or the user can assist
manipulation by selecting an object in a video image and the robot grasps it autonomously. This
mode takes away effort from the user, reduces operation errors, and reduces the network traffic,
which is advantageous for tele-operation over real-world networks.
3) Manual mode: In this mode, the least robotic intelligence is used. The tele-operator directly
controls the robot, e.g. the tele-operator can navigate the robot similar to driving a car. This mode
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requires the most user interaction effort and system knowledge and can be technologically
challenging over real-world communication networks. This mode is used if all other semi-
autonomous modes fail or are not feasible from the start. It is thus considered the last alternative.
This mode is mainly used by professional tele-operators.
In order to achieve as many end users as possible, a low cost SRS technical solution will be provided. This technical solution is not a new development itself but an integration of several partial technical solutions. The main robotic mobile platform will be based on a TurtleBot-2 which is a low-cost, personal robot kit with open-source software. With TurtleBot 2 it is possible to build a robot that can drive around a house, see in 3D, and have enough horsepower to create many domestic applications. The following diagram shows the mobile base consisting on a Kobuki mobile platform:
Figure 2. Kobuki mobile platform
This platform is derived from the robot cleaner iClebo (http://www.iclebo.com/), and is a low-cost mobile research base designed for research on state of art robotics. Kobuki provides power supplies for an external computer as well as additional sensors and actuators. Its highly accurate odometry, amended with a factory calibrated gyroscope, enables precise navigation. The list below shows the devices that will be integrated on the Kobuki platform so to provide as many domestic applications for elderly support as possible:
DEVICE FIGURE
Robotic arm: simple robotic arms can be attached to the mobile
platform for grasping small objects. Due to the relative high
payload, it is possible to add two arms to perform more complex
grasping
Kinect sensor: provides a lot of functionalities both to HRI
application (such as face recognition) and internal functions (own
navigation, localization and mapping).
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Pan-tilt camera: it is possible to focus the point of view in our
interest zone, useful for remote visualization and panoramic views
acquiring.
Automatic pill dispenser: attached to the robot so it can search the
user in the right moment to take the medication.
Smart Screen: for showing the image of the webcam of a remote
user and tele-presence tasks
Watchdog: the robot will search for the user in programmed hours
or randomly enquiring him to press a combination of its existing
buttons. If the button combination fails or it is not pressed, the
robot will warn a human operator.
Smart watch: it will be interconnected to the robot, so with an alert
scenario (by pressing the emergency button) the robot will move
near the user and the situation will be sent directly to the service
center.
Android support: it is possible to control the robot through an
Android application in a smart phone or tablet. Through it, it is
possible to access to almost all of the described functions in a easy
and accessible way
With the devices listed beforehand it is possible to achieve the three main modes of operation in SRS but making use of a very low cost platform affordable to the end user. The following diagram shows a prospective view of the robot.
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Figure 3. The prospective view of the tele-presence robot
Services
It has been identified that the main revenue action will come from the bespoke services brought to the customers:
Consulting including analysing healthcare/homecare pathways/models currently used by
clients and suggesting on modifications of the pathways/models
System integration and customisation
Training
After sale services
The quality of these services will be ensured by internally subcontracting from the consortium, where the person providing a service will have the best knowledge and expertise in the field that a customer requires assistance in. 3.4 Potential market
In a Future Cities context, the SRS is mainly targeted at local authorities and healthcare organisations in both private and public sectors. The potential market is likely to represent local authorities (home care services provided by local councils) and companies involved in the provision of care homes, such as BUPA and Care at Home or other forms of sheltered accommodation, and owners of retirement villages. Private individuals within higher economic strata who may wish to purchase their own personal SRS robot also represent a potential market.
Potential end-users
The potential end-users define a large part the work that is being performed within the SRS project. Older People
The older people user group is the main target for the SRS project. They provided the consortium with the most feedback regarding the uses of an assistive robot. Based on the input from the elderly users, a discussion has been held within the consortium to define which requests should be implemented within the SRS project. The inputs from the elderly users are mainly concerned with the so called Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).
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The following screening criteria were defined for the recruitment of elderly study participants:
Residence: The older person should still live in the original, private home or in assisted living
facilities with the focus on independent living such as sheltered accommodation and
retirement complex.
Health: The older person must have (corrected) vision that allows reading of newspaper-
sized letters on a handheld display. Muscle capabilities must allow using a touchscreen
display. Cognitive capabilities should be sufficient for operating the basic functions of
standard electronic devices (e.g. television, telephone). Hearing (potentially with hearing aid)
should allow having a conversation on a standard telephone.
Daily life difficulties: The older person should have difficulties with instrumental activities of
daily living (IADL) addressed by the SRS scenarios. Potential elderly participants were asked
about their difficulties with several activities and one additional question on their risk for a
case of emergency. Participants are admitted if they reply to at least one question with
response option 3 or higher OR if they reply to at least two questions with response option 2
or higher.
Activities of Daily Living
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) is the umbrella term used in healthcare and gerontology to refer those activities we normally do in daily living including any daily activity we perform for self-care (such as feeding ourselves, bathing, dressing, grooming), work, homemaking, and leisure. Health professionals routinely refer to the ability or inability to perform ADLs as a measurement of the functional status of a person, particularly in regards to older people and / or people with disabilities. The activities can be subdivided into personal care or Basic ADL (BADL) and domestic and community activities – Instrumental ADL (IADL). Instrumental activities of daily living refer to skills beyond basic self care that evaluate how individuals function within their homes, workplaces, and social environments. Activities of daily living (ADL) making the independent living of frail elderly people difficult are, according to the user requirement studies performed within the SRS project, related to mobility issues (carrying heavy objects, reaching objects, risk of falling, activities related to shopping such as carrying heavy bags) and housekeeping activities (cleaning windows, cleaning floors, opening bottles, etc). Other difficulties, such as difficulties with reading and forgetfulness, also emerged from the results of the requirement studies, pointing to potential complementary functions of the system.
Informal Caregivers and Potential Informal Caregivers
Interviews with informal caregivers (mainly family members) have given a slightly different viewpoint on the requirements from that of the older people. It has turned out that some of the older individuals are not always honest in their answers, as some of the participants were sometimes ashamed of their situation. Contacting the family members of the older people gave sometimes a clearer image of the situation. Based on this answers, the requirements could be more specified and based on this the consortium could focus more on potential exploitable results. This user group should conform to the following criteria:
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Caregiving and potential caregiving: The person provides care to an older person or would
be willing to do so if a geographical or other hindrance that can be addressed by SRS can be
overcome. Practitioners who provided care in the past but no longer do can be admitted if
the care ended no longer than one year ago.
Older person cared for: The older person cared for matches the criteria described in the
section on the older user group.
Personal relationship: The (potential) caregiver has a personal long-term relationship with
the care subject. Usually, the caregiver will have known the older person long before the
care became necessary. Most typically the informal caregiver will be the son or daughter of
an assisted person, but if might also be a grandchild, spouse, friend or neighbour. The
arrangement has not been made with a stranger.
Non-financial reasons: The (potential) caregiver does not primarily have financial interests
as a motivation for providing the care. Most typically, the caregiving person does not receive
any payment for the care. Minor compensations are acceptable as long as money is a
secondary reason for providing care (e.g. a son or a daughter receiving some money as
compensation for work hours lost due to the care).
Geographical hindrance to provide care (50%): Because SRS is particularly (though not
exclusively) useful for people assisting at a distance, at least 50% of recruited (potential)
informal caregivers must have had, at least occasionally, a hindrance to provide care that
could be improved by a remote manipulation robot such as SRS.
Professional Tele-operators
This user group represents a yet non-existing profession. These users will operate SRS remotely and be available around-the-clock. This user group is required because it needs to be ensured that the older person always has a contact point. However, informal caregivers will not always be available (e.g. at work, on vacation, not willing, or there are no relatives). Also, certain types of interaction during tele-operation require a more advanced user interface and more sophisticated, immobile interaction devices which would be too complex to use for informal caregivers. Professional caregivers will have received training for using advanced interaction capabilities for tele-operation (e.g. advanced manual 3D manipulation mode, advanced teaching of procedures). Due to the costs associated, professional caregivers will always be considered the last priority, contacted only if elderly themselves and informal caregivers could not solve a task with the robot.
The work field today most similar to this future profession is tele-assistance, commonly including 24-hour availability of a call centre, ad hoc appointments for tele-assistance and scheduled telemonitoring. The SRS concept foresees that current tele-assistance staff would undergo a short training for operating SRS remotely. For SRS user studies, current tele-assistance staff will be recruited. The requirements are:
Type of work: The person works or worked as a direct provider of tele-assistance to older
people. Tele-assistance is defined as s service provided remotely in a professional, trained
way to elderly in need. Examples are handling emergency calls or giving psychological
support via telephone.
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Duration and time of employment: The person worked in the job for at least two months
and the occupation did not end more than one year ago.
The identification of a complete new profession offers a huge exploitation potential. Not directly for bringing the SRS framework on the market, but for creating a complete new branch. Of course, this approach is very tightly linked with the results of bringing the SRS robot on the market. If the robot is not adequate for the market, or no market is created for the SRS approach, the profession of professional tele-operator is not required. Therefore, this exploitation possibility is very dependent on the success of the project. 3.5 Distribution
Distribution will mainly through partnership between SCRI on the behalf of SRS consortium and local authorities and healthcare organisations. This partnership includes: 1. Joint management between SCRI and partnership institutions – this will be implemented
through the following management groups:
Partnership Committee (PC)
Advisory Board (AB)
Technique Group (TG)
Executive Group (EG)
Marketing and Dissemination Manager (MDM) and
Intellectual Property Rights Manager (IPRM).
The PC will be formed by members of top-management from SCRI and partnership institutions. It makes decisions on strategic collaboration issues.
The AB will consist of business managers, healthcare policy advisors, healthcare pathways/models designers from both parties. The task of the AB will be to comment on the design or modification of the existing healthcare pathways/models to accommodate SRS robots and will provide a good resource for dissemination activities.
The TG is responsible for the provision of technical support to the partnership institutions. It will be formed by technical personnel from SRS partner institutions.
The EG is responsible for the day-by-day management of SRS-based healthcare provision. The ET is responsible for:
Administrative coordination and financial management
Collection, collation and forwarding of reports
Preparation of the projects for the CB
communication between the CB and other management groups
Central document administration
Monitoring of Intellectual Property
The MDM has responsibility for identify new market and dissemination audience and opportunities. The MDM will prioritise and organise dissemination and marketing activities
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such as conferences, workshops, exhibitions and publications including patents, journal & conference papers, reports and the media. The IPRM will be appointed by the CB and will be responsible for establishing and scheduling activities related to the Intellectual Property Rights Management. All disputes or differences concerning IPR issues are to be solved according to the procedure described in the Consortium Agreement.
2. Joint healthcare delivering – including:
The partnership institutions to allow SCRI to use their healthcare facilities such as smart
homes, care homes, care centres, the existing data super-highway, databases, etc to
integrate SRS robots with the facilities
SCRI and the partnership institutions to establish SRS robots based integrated healthcare
pathways/models, including 24/7 healthcare centres
The partnership institutions to task their staff members to play various roles in the SRS
robots based integrated healthcare from healthcare pathways/models design to routine
operations in the 24/7 healthcare centres such as healthcare advice provision, remote
manipulation of the robots when necessary and documentation
SCRI to provide partnership institutions with advice regarding healthcare pathways/models
amendment and design
SCRI to provide partnership institutions with technical support such as integrating SRS robots
with smart homes and care homes, customising SRS robots to fit smart home and care home
settings, SRS robots maintenance, etc
SCRI to provide staff members of partnership institutions and informal healthcare providers
such as family members with training on the manipulation of the robots
SCRI and partnership institutions to jointly organise dissemination events
SCRI and partnership institutions to jointly bid R&D funding for further develop more
affordable and down-scaled robotic systems and robot/smart devices based integrated
healthcare models for healthcare provision to older people
Short term
In short term (within 5 years), SCRI is focusing on the trial of the application of SRS robots in older people’s healthcare/homecare at smart homes and care homes. SCRI is establishing partnerships with the Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS (FDCGO) and Consorcio Galego de Servicios Sociais (Galician Consortium of Social Services, also known as CGSS). The Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS (FDCGO), one of the SRS consortium member, is the largest private non-profit organization in the field of rehabilitation in Italy. Currently it runs 29 medical and social rehabilitation centres, providing medical, social and vocational rehabilitation to individuals of all ages with a variety of physical, sensory and mental disabilities. Overall, the network of FDGCO centres provides care and rehabilitation services to over 9.000 persons / day, either as inpatients or long term care (overall 3648 beds) or outpatients. The population being served include people of any age (children, adults and elderly) with any kind of physical, sensory or cognitive disabilities. This project is going to involve chiefly two Centres of the Don Gnocchi Foundation: the
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“Santa Maria Nascente” Clinical and Research Institute, with significant inpatient activity (120 rehabilitation hospital beds, 14 day-hospital beds, 45 long term care beds, 120 day-care units) and a wide range of outpatient services, including the Occupational Therapy Department (DAT Service) where most of the users who need assistive technology are assessed; and the “Beato Palazzolo” Centre, also with significant inpatient activity (700 long term care beds, 80 geriatric clinic beds, 75 rehabilitation beds and 25 day centre units) and a wide range of outpatient services. The DAT Service includes a permanent exhibition of assistive technology product and a smart home environment where AT products can be shown and demonstrated to the user, and individual trials can be organized to assess the most appropriate assistive solutions for each person. The Consorcio Galego de Servicios Sociais is the entity in charge of a public network of gerontological services in Galicia, the autonomous community in northwest Spain, including day-care centres, care homes and apartments for independent older adults:
Day-care centres. Socio-therapeutic and family-support centres providing day comprehensive
day care to dependent or near-to-dependent older adults. Their aims are to promote personal
autonomy, social relationships and aging in place. Because of the Galician demographic and
cultural peculiarities, most of these centres are placed on rural areas. Currently, the Consorcio
manages 50 day-care centres with 3000 day-care users.
Care homes. Permanent, full-time attention centres providing residential care to those older
adults who cannot live independently anymore because of mild to moderate dependency
situations. They are medium-size centres that allow to the users to continue living near his or
her own houses. Currently, the Consorcio manages 6 care homes with 400 residents.
Apartments. These residential facilities are designed for independent older adults with social
needs or certain risk of dependency. The apartments are grouped in order to provide them
shared services (dinning hall, laundry, etc). Their aim is to promote independency and
independent living. Currently, the Consorcio attend to 64 persons in these facilities.
Melide’s Gerontological Centre is part of the network of care services managed by CGSS. It is place in Padres Pasionistas street in Melide, a small town in the centre of Galicia near Santiago de Compostela. This centre consists of one day-care centre, one care-home and one group of apartments. The care home was started by the Municipality of Melide in 2000, and later on in 2008 the day-care centre and the apartments were opened, being managed since then by the Consorcio. This centre attend to 24 individuals with difficulties in their daily life, in the day-care centre, 16 dependent in the home care and 16 independent individuals in the apartments. Currently its interdisciplinary team is made up of one director, a social worker, a psychologist, an occupational therapist, an educator, one-nurse, 11 caregivers and six maintenance workers. Permanent, full-time attention centres providing residential care to those older adults who cannot live independently anymore because of mild to moderate dependency situations. The Medium-size centres allow users to continue living near their own houses. Currently, the CGSS manages six care homes with 400 residents. In short term, 3 SRS robots will be purchased/rented by the partnership institutions MK Council and CGSS. Each of the robots will be deployed to one smart home or care home for one month so in 5-year time 180 older people, i.e. smart home or care home residents, will have opportunities to use the robots in each partnership institution.
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Two 24/7 healthcare centres will be established. One is for FDCGO and the other one for CGSS. The both partnership institutions will select participants to the trials. SCRI will provide technical support including installing the SRS robots in the smart homes and care homes, customising the robots, connecting the robots with the existing tele-care systems in the smart homes and care homes. SCRI will also provide older people who are the users of the robots, their family members and healthcare professional with training at the beginning of each month when the robots are deployed to new smart homes and care homes.
Figure 4. FDCGO “S.Maria Nascente” Centre in Milano
Figure 5. Care home at CGSS
The expected outcomes from this stage are:
Working model for collaboration under the partnership
Kitchen
Living
room
Office
Bedroom
Bathroom
Children
bedroom
Entrance
Operator
room
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Integrated healthcare pathways/models that connect older people, healthcare professional
and informal care givers (e.g. family members) together based on smart living environment
and SR robots
Technical specifications for further develop more affordable and down-scaled robotic
systems
Technical standard for integration of SRS robots with the existing smart living environment
Medium term
Medium term (5 to 10 years) will be the early commercialisation stage for SRS robots. More local authorities and healthcare organisations from Italy, Spain and the UK, as well as from other countries such as Germany are expected to join the partnership. More than 20 robots will be deployed by each partnership institution. The robots will also stay with users for much longer time. SCRI is establishing a pioneer strategy partnership with Milton Keynes Council. The Milton Keynes Council provides housing for Dementia sufferers through the Grand Union Housing Group. The flats provide Dementia sufferers the comfort and security of their own home. It also provides tableware service to every flat tailored to meet individual circumstances [14]. Telecare services provided by the council to houses consist of a range of wireless sensors which provide instant communication with a control centre during an emergency. Sensors provided include fall detectors, personal triggers, bed occupancy sensors, Bogus caller, Motion detectors and smoke detectors. Using these sensors lead to longer independent living [15]. The tableware service also extends to anyone living within the Milton Keynes Council area who wants to join the Community Alarm Service. This is regardless of their circumstance. Once the system is activated, the person’s name, address, details of their doctor and emergency contacts would appear on a screen in the control area. If these details do not appear, then a mobile warden would be sent to personally check up with the person. The tableware service can be fitted to houses provided by the council and any other house obtained through a housing association [16]. Milton Keynes Council also provides Sheltered housing designed primarily for those aged 60 years and above. The aim is to enable the frail and elderly live independently for longer. They offer one-bedroom centrally heated flats in a two-storey building to flat lets. The houses can also be adapted for individual users according to their frailty and needs. This housing can also support those with low level Dementia and in need of rehabilitative intermediate care [17]. The council runs a domiciliary/personal care service that aids the elderly in getting out of bed, moving around safely, dressing/undressing, and bathing. Laundry Service is also provided for the elderly needing this because of incontinence. The Laundry is collected from the elderly home twice a week and returned at the next visit [18][19]. SCRI is involved in a £16M digital city project under Milton Keynes’ Future Cities initiative, together with big players such as BT, Dell, EoN. Another candidate partnership institute is the Hospital “Città di Settimo”. The link to the hospital will be established through Istituto Superiore Mario Boella (ISMB) in Italy. ISMB is an Italian ICT research centre and also an associated member of SRS consortium. The mission of ISMB is to operate on technology and process innovation following the paradigm of Knowledge Management - from the creation to implementation of innovation. In other words, ISMB acts as reference institution for the elaboration of a vision of the future (including social and economic aspects) producing concrete
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outputs and roadmaps enabling the decision-making process. In this context, the SRS exploitation partnership will match perfectly with the ISMB research targets, in particular
To contribute in reinforcing the innovation processes in Piemonte and in Italy increasing the
competitive strength of the local and European economy.
To become a research partner for ICT-using and ICT-producing industries and an active
advisor of the Public Administration for e.g. strategic support on social welfare and
environmental policies.
The link between ISMB and the local Public Administration is also built by several field trails and technology transfers to many hospitals of Piemonte (“Città di Settimo Hospital”, “Città della Scienza e della Salute” Hospital, “Gradenigo Hospital”) and to several care providers. In these terms the close collaboration with the “Città di Settimo” Hospital will provide new territorial and post-acute activities in order to satisfy the needs of the population of the areas ASLTO2 and ASLTO4. Into this hospital, there is also the possibility to bring outpatient and distrectual activities. At the moment in the Civic Hospital “Città di Settimo” there are 211 beds, 80 of these are of protected dehospitalization, 71 long-term care and 60 are of Rehabilitation and Re-education Functioning. The third one will come through the further collaboration with Huawei Technologies France Co. Ltd on tele-presence and products. The company is the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world. The development will also further contribute to ROS open source movement under the SRS_Public. In addition to the three partnerships, Luton Borough Council has already expressed their interests in introducing the proposed healthcare/homecare service model and the tele-presene robotic products into their assistive technology programme. The more affordable and down scaled robots will be developed. Dissemination and marketing will play significant roles in this stage. The expected outcomes include:
Public recognition of SRS robots
5% - 10% market share of the similar healthcare robots market in Europe
Suitable scaled robot manufacturer
Long term
In long term (15 to 20 years), SCRI will further develop European market by establishing links to more local authorities and healthcare organisations and in more European countries through various dissemination and marketing activities. SCRI will adopt the partnership model with the local authorities and healthcare organisations. SCRI will also look for large scale manufacturing of the robot the meet the market needs. In addition to further developing European market, SCRI will start to explore international market for SRS robots. The focus will be on China, Japan and USA. SCRI will adopt the same model in exploring international market. It will develop opportunities to establish partnership with local authorities, insurance companies and healthcare organisations and explore the market through the partnership. The SRS consortium has built up links with universities and companies in China, Japan and USA. SCRI will follow the existing links between the SRS consortium and China, Japan and USA to start the establishment of partnership in the exploration of the international market.
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Through the partnership, SCRI will help the partnership institutions to set up training centres for the purpose of the provision of training to local users. This model will be also adopted in exploring market in other countries in the world.
3.6 Price
SRS Robot
The company aims to purchase homecare and healthcare robots 10% lower than the cost. The final price offered to the customer has been established as the base price of home care or healthcare robot plus €10,000 which will include the initial 20 days set up service. For example: Original price of robot is €250,000. Robot purchased by the company at a price of €225,000. Final price offered to the customer €250,000 + €10,000= €260,000 The Institute/company considers to develop low cost, scaled down and modularised robotic solution has been considered to facilitate public purchasing of innovative solutions derived from the simplified SRS products and services. Services
Based on the current prices for providing the services listed above the following price scheme has be identified for providing such services to the customer:
Junior - €400 per day
Senior - €600 per day
High level management - €700 per day
3.7 Communication
Message
The following key messages are to be communicated to the target audience: Multi-purpose remotely-controlled, semi-autonomous robotic solutions in domestic environments to
support older people and prolong independent living;
Acts as a shadow of its controller. For example, one can have the robot act as a shadow of
their children or carers;
Help can be provided remotely and physically;
Adaptive autonomy, self-learning, safety, remote control.
Targets
The targets of the communication are potential market and potential end-users. The potential target market consists of healthcare organisations, both private- and public- sector, such as BUPA and Care at Home or other forms of sheltered accommodation, and owners of retirement villages as well as individuals who have enough means to purchase the SRS robot. Target end-users have been
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identified earlier as older people, informal caregivers and potential informal caregivers – both are targets of the communication. Media
Various media vehicles are to be used to communicate about the SRS robot and to address the targets, such as:
Conferences and Exhibitions (Expos; Healthcare networks)
SRS website ( www.srs-project.eu)
Press (new studies, new developments, etc)
Direct marketing (engaging directly with potential target market and end-user)
Social Media (social networking sites, blogs, forums, etc.)
3.8 Capitalisation
The development and marketing of the SRS robot and service will require some level of investment as it is represented in the table below. The table presents projections for six years, and it should be noted that in this period it is not planned that there will be any sales of Care-o-Bot 3; this will come in later years. The capitalisation that will be necessary to finance the exploitation plan is as follows: Profit & loss account forecast
€ ,000 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Income 0 40 120 240 480 960
Cost of sales 60 75 120 180 300 600
Gross profit -60 -35 0 60 180 360
Cost of functioning* 60 -65 -65 70 -70 80
Net profit before tax -120 -100 -65 -10 110 280
*cost of functioning: distribution, marketing, delivery costs, rent/lease, utilities, salary, interest charges, depreciation... The net profit is considered as the cash flow as it is supposed no dividends are distributed over the period.
3.9 Impacts and long term viability
Older people should be empowered to stay independent and autonomous for longer in their preferred home and community environment and to remain socially active. SRS exploitation will support older people with minor cognitive impairments at home through:
REGIONAL COOPERATION ON ROBOTIC TELE-PRESENCE BASED TELE-CARE
DEMONSTRATE VIABLE BUSINESS MODEL FOR TELE-PRESENCE TECHNIQUES BASED INTEGRATED CARE
SERVICE
BUILDING EXPERIENCES FROM LARGE SCALE USER BASE RECRUITED FROM ITALY AND SPAIN
ROBOTIC TELE-PRESENCE TECHNIQUES/PRODUCTS FROM EUROPEAN SME
GUIDELINES and standards on the use of the advanced ICT in integrating health care, social care and self-care towards capitalising future cities.
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Social Impact The ageing of the European population is having an impact on the provision of adequate services and is a cause for concern about spiralling costs of social and health care. The care-related issues can be improved substantially by the deployment of ICTs. The main goal of SRS exploitation is to promote the quality of life and safety of older people while ensuring their personal independence. The European social and health care system provides comprehensive coverage to all the resident population. As older people are the most common population in care environments, the most effective policy is to reduce the older people’s dependence on the existing care service. Demographic trends show that by 2012 about 25% of the European population will be aged over 60, rising to 30% by 2020. Correspondingly, the rate of persons with disabilities will rise from about 14% today to around 20% by 2020, many of whom will be faced with multiple or minor disabilities. As life expectancy increases and needs for healthcare to older people also increase drastically with age, there is strong concern about the social and health capability of European countries. “Assisting people” is a fundamental idea behind SRS exploitation. Assistive technology such as SRS promises a new approach for an efficient integrated care. It prolongs the independence capability of the older people. And the boundaries between the social care and the personal care could be re-defined. Therefore it will have significant social impact by reducing the burden of social care service in the European countries. “Connecting people” is another fundamental idea behind SRS. New social behaviour model for older people and their caregivers will lead to an improved social cohesion. Furthermore, by engaging in daily activities, SRS exploitation could make sure older people have a real opportunity to explore new technology; and ensure their accessibility and usability of ICTs. The project will also drive the rapid development of robotic technology in the service robots field with a shorter product development cycle and richer functionality via the SRS service model. Therefore, the project will have significant social impact through its applications on new type of care service through robotic tele-presence. In addition, the remote control technique behind SRS may generate new social behaviour model for various sectors which could lead to a reduced CO2 emission. Therefore, it also has a positive environmental effect on low carbon economy.
Implementation for Health Care The SRS exploitation can play a key role in contributing to the key elements of older people’s care. Prevention of hospital admission and sustaining people in own home and providing care closer to home can have economic benefits by reducing the overall demand for expensive hospital and long-term care services. More importantly, the older person can live in their own environment with dignity [25]. It is a priority to increase the proportion of older people being supported to live in their own home by 1% annually in 2011 and 2012; and increasing by 2012 the proportion of those supported intensively to live at home to 34% of the total of those being supported at home or in residential care[25]. The National Service Framework for long term conditions aims to create an environment where people feel supported to self-care. Organisational structures and networks and interventions and technology can improve older peoples’ quality of life and independent living [26]. Joint communication between carers, families and health providers can be facilitated via the SRS.
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If hospital admissions are required, early supported discharge is a priority: real-time interactive assisting devices such as the SRS could provide this assistance. Currently available monitoring only devices do not allow for any interaction from carers or healthcare providers, these potential interactions could be crucial to the support of and hence success of early discharge from hospital. The Therapy Strategy for UK [27] describes the contribution of therapy services to transforming the delivery of health and social care in Wales. Self-care and self-management schemes are highlighted as are partnerships between people living with long-term conditions and their health and social care professionals. Tele-care and Tele-medicine is a focus and the use of aids and equipment that can contribute to the avoidance of distress, discomfort, inappropriate admissions and delayed discharges should be considered. Therapy should be provided in a variety of settings with a focus on community based support and assistance. In particular “people with chronic conditions need ….support to sustain an optimum quality of life in ….everyday living.” [27]. Practical interventions that enable maintenance of movement and mobility and in addition, overcome visual problems, improve nutritional status, develop communication abilities and restore or retain functional skills are of utmost importance [27]. Economic Impact
According to the IFR (International Federation of Robotics) Statistical Department in the new study “World Robotics 2012”: at the end of 2012 about one million industrial robots and 5.5 million service robots were worldwide operating in factories and in private houses. Within the 5.5 million, there were about 3.4 million units sold as the domestic robots and 2.0 million units sold as entertainment robots. It was projected that sales of all types of domestic robots (vacuum cleaning, lawn-mowing, window cleaning and other types) in the period 2012-2015 could reach some 11 million units. The market for entertainment and leisure robots, which includes toy robots, is forecast at about 7.4 million units. This is shown in [28]. The leading manufacturer of service robots is Japan. Europe also has some major manufacturers. SRS exploitation will follow today’s concerted effort to transform European manufacturing to a knowledge-intensive and innovative sector, able to maintain leadership in the global market. The impact of SRS exploitation on the European economy is considered in three aspects: (1) SRS innovations will open new markets for European robotic industries (2) Breakthrough innovation will allow European industries to become relevant players in the field of service/domestic robots (3) The knowledge-intensive character of the interdisciplinary/hybrid processes involved will inherently protect European manufacturing industry.
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Figure 6. Market size of domestic robotics
Benefit to SME
The SRS exploitation project is led by SME is clearly related to the very significant introduction of service/domestic robotic systems and service models, in terms of throughput and cost of ownership. This will assist powerful industrial players as well as European SMEs in the commercialisation of modularised components for new products and services for aging society that significantly prolong the independent living. Throughout the world, the SME sector is now recognised as a principal engine of dynamic economic growth, playing a unique role in job creation and technological innovation. In the Lisbon meeting, European Council committed itself to converting Europe into the world’s leading knowledge-based economy by 2011. A lucrative market of around $3 billion service/domestic robotic system for integrated care is available. Considering the applications as well as its leverage effect, SRS exploitation will create a sizable direct economic impact for all consortium partners through the use and exploitation of the technology. SRS exploitation’s new user-oriented approach will allow for the acceleration of future introduction of robotic assistant. In this way SRS exploitation will help European AAL industry to become more competitive and to assure technological leadership over Asian and North American competitors. Breakthrough innovation will allow European industries to become relevant players in the field of service/domestic robots. In these highly competitive markets there is a valuable opportunity to establish European leadership. The knowledge intensive character of the interdisciplinary processes inherently protects European manufacturing industry. European robotic industries will improve their strategic position with global customers when they have a sound understanding of the knowledge involved in these emerging
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elderly assistive systems. This knowledge cannot be simply bought or copied. It will benefit all businesses and in particular for SMEs. Long term viability
The introductory statement of the AAATE/EASTIN Position Paper 2012 states that “Europe has an ageing population. Demographic changes and progress in health sciences – resulting in increased life expectancy and survival to traumas or illnesses – are increasing the number of citizens who are living with disabilities, within a context of reduced public resources. The great potential of technology in supporting daily life needs of older people and people with disability has been scarcely exploited in the public care systems so far. The more technology advances and opens up new possibilities, the more it should be considered as an intrinsic component of a care system; this means not only making technology available, but also ensuring effective processes of matching each individual user with the most appropriate technology.” After observing that “UN Convention on the Rights of People with disabilities commits the signing States to enforce appropriate measures to facilitate access to assistive technologies (AT) for those who need them to improve independence in daily life and to participate in society on an equal basis with others”, the Position Paper clarifies that such “appropriate measures” should be intended as public interventions supporting the setting up of individualised “assistive solutions”, each consisting of an appropriate mix of specific assistive technology products, of well-designed mainstream products that can be assembled or configured to solve given daily life problems, of individualised environmental adaptations and of a proper personal assistance service. Indeed the concept of “assistive solution” is going to be the guiding principle for the development of public assistive technology service delivery systems in the coming years. On the basis of the above reflections, the long-term viability of the robotic system being deployed and validated within this project depends on either its intrinsic usability and perceived cost-effectiveness (hence the user’s willingness to pay, in comparison with other solutions available on the market that may solve similar problems in a different way), or its capability of being integrated within a community-based care and assistance service. This means that two main targets need to be addressed:
Individual users, who may be interested in directly purchasing the product to improve their independence in daily life and reduce the burden of care – hence increase sustainability – of the persons of their primary network (family, informal caregivers, formal caregivers directly paid by the user)... The Consortium believes that the product’s “affordable price”, “attractive design”, “usability” and “ease to operate” are the main predictors of the market success of the robotic system.
Public care service delivery systems, which may be interested in public provision of the robotic system as an assistive technology product that helps decrease costs and increase efficiency of the care network, at the same time ensuring appropriate safety standards and improving quality of life of the user and his/her network. The Consortium believes that the acknowledgment of this robotic system as an assistive technology product eligible for public provision, and the availability of guidance on how to set up a service model that effectively integrates the robotic system, are the keys to address this target. A Europe-wide awareness campaign is needed to disseminate information on the product itself and on the service model, as a prerequisite for that.
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4 Exploitation Plan for SRS at Component Level
4.1 Products and Services
Products- Software Components
Several potential products at the component level have been identified and will be available to the public under the open source license. The objective of such activity is to promote the project outcomes and the use of the project outcomes. Software components and their description: Components Description Value Proposition Owner
1.Symbolic
Grounding
plug-in
The product is a software package.
The plug-in translates symbolic terms
used in high-level commands into
low-level configurations to enable a
mobile assistive robot best position
itself for scanning, grasping and
handing up objects to human users in
unstructured environment.
Enables the development of a
robot that can automatically
specify suitable poses
according to the users' high
level commands.
BED
2.Intent
Recognition plug-in
The product is a software package.
The plug-in is able to predict the
intent of a human operator who
manipulates the robot from the first
few steps of the manipulation.
Enables the development of a
robot that can understand the
users' intents and therefore
can cooperate the users in a
seamless way.
BED
3.Task Prioritising
plug-in
The product is a software package.
The plug-in enables robots to decide
the priorities of sub-tasks for a given
task.
Enables the development of a
robot that can automatically
go to different meaningful
places to search for objects
required by the users.
BED
4.RobotDiscovery
Learning plug-in
The product is a software package.
The plug-in is able to reason the pre-
condition of each step of human
manipulation in the situation where
the robot is under human users’
manual control and hence to facilitate
robot skill learning from the users’
manipulation.
Enables the development of
robot skill learning capabilities
in terms of identifying the
pre- and the post- conditions
of actions recorded.
BED
5.Semi-
autonomous and
remotely
controllable
add-in
The product includes a plug-in device
which is mounted onto robotic
devices, an iPad-based remote
controller, and drivers. The add-in
device facilitates robotic devices to
communicate with remote operators
through Skype, and to learn new skills
from remote manipulations. The
remote controller allows the robot
An innovative add-in that can
serve as an upgrade for
already existing in the market
robot products, adding value
by allowing robots to learn
new skills when encountering
unfamiliar situation with the
help of human intervention,
however being able to deal
BED
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devices to be manipulated through
Skype.
with the same situation itself
second time round. In the
fast-moving technology
markets innovative products
bring competitive edge to the
company.
6.Software
framework for 3D
environment
reconstruction
3D sensor data processing is an
important technology in the field of
service robots. Data from 3D cameras
is used to reconstruct features and
objects in the environment in order to
generate higher level knowledge. A
modular software framework has
been developed within SRS that can
be used in various applications apart
from service robotics.
SRS partners act as
developers for application
based solutions. Deep
knowledge of algorithms and
sensors is necessary to create
robust solutions.
IPA
7.Human-Robot
Interaction Concept
and User Interface
Design Adaptation
Service
While the SRS framework is fairly
generic, there are aspects that need
adaptation to a specific service robot.
For example, service robot hardware
differs in such aspects as one versus
two manipulators, different degrees
of freedom, gripper types, dexterities,
sensors, or omni-directional versus
differential drives. Such differences
will have to be considered in the
choice of remote interaction
hardware and in the user interfaces.
The current SRS concept and model
user interfaces will be the starting
point from which to make necessary
changes. This service uses interaction
patterns and principles developed in
the SRS project. It relies on validated
solutions that emerged as a result of
the HRI user studies and interaction
experiments.
Save time in user interface
adaptation, get to market
sooner.
Rely on the experience and
depth of knowledge of the
original UI designers.
Make sure to use user-
validated user interface
building blocks and thus save
evaluation time.
HdM
8.Assisted arm
navigation and
grasping module
The product includes a software
framework for arm trajectory
planning and powerful PC-based user
interface for remote operators. The
assisted arm navigation module lets
remote operator to perform some
tasks which should be normally solved
autonomously. It enables remote
operator to set final position of the
arm in 3D environment, verify the
calculated trajectory and then
Increased functionality and
robustness of the system in
case of complex and
unforeseen situations with
the help of remote operator
intervention and techniques
for semi-autonomous arm
navigation and grasping.
BUT
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execute it on the robot. It also
enables the robot, by the operator
assistance, to grasp an unknown
object what is impossible to do fully
autonomously. The module is
designed for ROS and it uses
functionality of the arm navigation
stack and Warehouse Viewer.
9.Decision making
module and
support services
SRS decision making module is the
barebones for SRS tele-operation add-
in. It is extended from the
frameworks proposed in ROS SMACH
with a special focus on robustness. It
has a modular structure, where
components at each level can be
replaced by other modules with same
interface. Hence, apart from SRS
system, the framework could also be
integrated with other robotic systems
or knowledge systems with little
modification. It enables autonomous
control framework in unstructured
environments.
Enable the handling of
uncertainties in unstructured
environments.
Dynamic planning for
unstructured problems, such
as defining reactive
behaviours of robots or
autonomous cars, without
major reprogramming of
existing code.
Enabling autonomous control
CU
10.3D
reconstruction
system
3D reconstruction from unorganised
sensor input is an important
technology in the field of robotics and
machine vision. It enables a
completely free-form 3D
reconstruction without knowledge of
sensor viewpoints, thus cutting
required hardware costs.
Fast 3D scanning of unknown
objects in your environment.
Direct availability of CAD
models for Object
Recognition.
Enabling fast and online
Object Recognition for
autonomous systems in
unknown environments.
PROFACTOR
Application of Software Component
1. Symbolic Grounding plug-in
Existing mobile assistive robots and other mobile robots which receive commands that
contain symbolic terms such as ‘’near’’, ‘’close’’, ‘’in front of’’, etc, and need to translate the
symbolic terms into positions in the robots’ work spaces.
2. Intent Recognition plug-in
Existing assistive robots, robot companies and robotic pets. The plug in enables the robots
to predict the intent of their human users and to proactively cooperate with the users.
3. Task Prioritising plug-in
Existing assistive robots. An application scenario would be that if a robot receives the task of
finding the user’s mobile phone which can be placed on desk in study room, dining table in
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dining area or bedside in bedroom, Task Prioritising decides which room to go to first,
second and last, to find the mobile phone.
4. Robot Discovery Learning plug-in
Robot skill teaching and learning. For example, when a robot is passing through a narrow
passage and a human operator slows it down, the robot is able to realise the reason for
slowing down.
5. Semi-autonomous and remotely controllable add-in
Existing robotic device such as robot vacuums, robot mower, mobile robot platform, etc.
With the add-in, when robot devices face situations they cannot deal with, they can ask for
human intervene via the plug-in and human users can remotely control the robots using the
remote controller. The plug-in also records the manipulations and develops new skills
according to the recorded data. The next time when encountering the similar situation, the
robots will be able to handle with the newly developed skills.
6. Software framework for 3D environment reconstruction
Environment reconstruction can be used for collision avoidance in manipulation and
navigation, for high-level planning or for interactive user interfaces in tele-operation.
Industrial applications can be navigation of AGVs, work space observation for robots and
machines or inspection tasks with mobile systems.
7. Human-Robot Interaction Concept and User Interface Design Adaptation Service
SRS's customer organisations can book this additional service as an extra module to save
time and money during user interface implementation for their particular robot hardware.
8. Assisted arm navigation and grasping module
Existing service robots equipped with a robotic arm. The module increases robustness of the
arm manipulation allowing effective tele-operation. This is an alternative to the automatic
solution in difficult situations when the environment is too much cluttered or complex.
9. Decision making module and support services
1) Handling uncertainties in the unstructured environment. Inspired by human reasoning
processes, this idea is realised by a brain-like automatic task planner which initialises
proactive movements on the symbolic level. A cerebellum-like task-coordination maintains
autonomous reactive behaviours. The proactive movements on the symbolic level tend to be
some general plans for a range of similar tasks. They are normally not sensitive to the
uncertainty. If the plans are decided, a robot would know what to do at the lower level
based on the structured task coordination strategy. The high level task planner could then
focus on updating the world model and revising the symbolic plans alone.
2) Enabling the extension and reuse of existing capabilities for future applications. The
development is not intended to build a fully capable general purpose autonomous system,
as it is still a long term goal in term of technical development. Instead, we are targeting a
scalable autonomous control framework which could efficiently integrate a large set of
useful capabilities as an “app-store” paradigm.
10. 3D reconstruction system
Large scale reconstruction and localization (SLAM), generating CAD models of unknown
parts.
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Commercial Service of User Interface Adaptation for SRS Framework:
Human-Robot Interaction Concept and User Interface Design Adaptation Service Description: The foundations of this service are the SRS remote user interfaces that are part of the SRS framework aiming to extend a given service robot’s capabilities. While the SRS framework is fairly generic, there are aspects that need adaptation to a specific service robot. For example, service robot hardware differs in such aspects as one versus two manipulators, different degrees of freedom, gripper types, dexterities, sensors, or omni-directional versus differential drives. Such differences have to be considered in the choice of remote interaction hardware and in the user interfaces. The current SRS concept and model user interfaces are the starting point from which to make necessary changes. This service uses interaction patterns and principles developed in the SRS project. It relies on validated solutions that emerged as a result of the HRI user studies and interaction experiments. Market: The market of this service is generally identical to the overall market of SRS. However, the more a robot differs from Care-o-Bot 3, the higher the need for this service is. Differences include hardware, software, and algorithmic approaches (e.g. existing learning algorithms, perceptual features of the robot). Value proposition: 1. Save time in user interface adaptation, get to market sooner. 2. Rely on the experience and depth of knowledge of the original UI designers. 3. Make sure to use user-validated user interface building blocks and thus save evaluation time. Distribution: This service is distributed as part of the overall SRS framework. Revenue activities: The price scheme for corporate and research customers is based on person-hours. After-sales services, such as upgrades, training, on-going support can be an additional revenue source. Competition: According to our research, there is no company specializing in remote user interface design for robots yet. This is natural as there are no sophisticated service robots in the market yet. Therefore, the biggest competitor will be the customer himself. The customer could decide to make necessary adaptations himself. However, there are several good reasons for not doing so: 1. Time to market: A general proposition of SRS is to speed up time to market by employing remote human operators. Therefore, SRS customers will be interested in getting to the market early. Engaging in the user interface adaptations themselves will not serve this goal. 2. Experience: As we have focussed on the design of these user interfaces for years, there is a significant amount of experience present. 3. Validated solutions: Not relying on our service would increase the risk of ending up with user-accepted and validated user interfaces. We have developed validated building blocks (UI patterns) that are ready to use. For these reasons, we believe to have a strong competitive position.
4.2 Potential market
It has been identified that at component level, SRS can have a wide application in the current market for service robot manufacturers, household robot manufacturers, as well as robot research and development institutions. In addition, software components can have interest in the current market for remotely operated/supervised service, home care and health care robotic systems where a robot is equipped with an arm. Potential big end users such as companies that act as suppliers of the home assistance products to the small end user are part of the potential target market. Manufacturers of the AGV are part of that market interested to improve their 2D navigation strategies by incorporating 3D obstacles. Manufacturers of mobile service robots like vacuum
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cleaners or lawn mowers can also benefit from 3D technology, part of the SRS components. Tele-presence systems can visualise the remote environment in 3D additionally to a live camera stream. The 3D environment reconstruction framework can be used to assemble software solutions based on multiple algorithms and processing steps. Such companies are interested in delivering new experiences and better value to the customer in order to maintain competitive edge and therefore, would be highly interested in upgrading their products. One of the components ReconstructMe enables digitalisation on the fly, raises the level of rapid prototyping for industrial applications, reduces the cost of customised medical products, aids forensic accident analysis, and assists archaeologists in conservation and restoration of findings and many more. In addition, research institutions which conduct on-going robot research activities have been identified as the target market. 4.3 Distribution
The software components will be offered to the public under the GPL open source license, thus the components and all the modified and extended versions will be distributed for free. The software components will be available to download from the www.ROS.org website, which provides libraries and tools to help software developers create robot applications. The partners will work on establishing professional relationships with the industry and communicate about the products to the potential end-users.
4.4 Communication
Message
The objective is to inform the target market about the products, software components and services and the company as at the point of launch, they will be unknown to the market; to communicate about the SRS innovations and the benefits of their application. Targets
The targets of the communication mix are potential end-users (potential target market) in the market who are likely to have interests in the products and services. This includes service robot manufacturers, household robot manufacturers, home care and health care robotic systems developers and manufacturers as well as robot research and development institutions. The following organisations have already been contacted by consortium members.
Company Expertise SRS
Interest
Country Webpage
Schunk
Gmbh
Gripping
solutions
-grasping
capabilities
Germany http://www.schunk.com/
Manu
Systems
Gmbh
Robotic
products sale
-complete
solution
Germany http://en.manu-
systems.com/Main_page.shtml
Barret Robotic hand -grasping USA http://www.barrett.com/robot/index.htm
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Technology and Robotic
arm
development
capabilites
-complete
solution
Gaitech Robotic
products sale
-complete
solution
China http://www.gaitech.net/
Nihon
Binary
Robotic
products sale
-complete
solution
Japan http://www.nihonbinary.co.jp/index.html
TSB AAL Solutions -complete
solution
-User
Interfaces
Spain http://www.tsbtecnologias.es/about/
Outlog -health sector
technology
provider
-complete
solution
-User
Interfaces
Spain http://www.out-log.es/inicio.html
Palex -hospital
advanced
solutions
-complete
solution
Spain and
Portugal
http://www.palexmedical.com/en/index.cfm
Intouch
Health
-telemedicine complete
solution
-User
Interfaces
USA http://www.intouchhealth.com/
Tecnalia AAL Solutions
provider
-complete
solution
-User
Interfaces
Spain http://www.tecnalia.com/
The consortium plans to contact the following two companies in August 2012.
Company Expertise SRS
Interest
Country Webpage
Intouch
Health
-telemedicine complete
solution
-User
Interfaces
USA http://www.intouchhealth.com/
Autotech -electric
control
-Cognitive
robotics
-Robot
planning
and
decision
making
UK http://www.autotech.co.uk/old/
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Media
The following media mediums are to be used to communicate about the SRS software components and to address the targets:
Conferences and Exhibitions (Expos; Healthcare networks)
SRS website ( www.srs-project.eu)
Press (new studies, new developments, etc)
Direct marketing (engaging directly with potential target market and end-user)
Social Media (social networking sites, blogs, forums, etc.)
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5 Control Systems
Working with and contributing to standards is considered to be a key factor for ensuring the success of the project and creating sustainable results on an international level. Therefore, the exploitation plan, the dissemination plan and the strategy will have to be periodically revised according to the development of the project and the results obtained. The success of the project will be measured by the final introduction of the SRS robot and services to prolong quality of independent living. In the short-term, immediately after the project completion, the success of SRS implementation can be judged by:
Innovations related to “intent- based” remote control, adaptive autonomy, self-learning,
safety and HRI patterns validated by the prototype and patented during the project. This will
ensure that consortium members exclusively benefit from the developed technology.
User acceptance of the SRS prototype completed home care services specified in WP1. This
will ensure that the SRS robot can provide the required home care service, and can be
accepted by the end user.
The availability of SRS toolboxes and libraries in the public domain will speed up future development of “Service Robotics for Aging Well”.
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6 Dissemination
SRS identified the following five strands of audience, namely, academia, healthcare professionals, public, policy makers and industry, as described in Deliverable 7.1b. The followings are dissemination activities in the 3rd project year, from 1st February 2012 to 30th April 2013. Publications:
1. Arbeite, R. G., Evaluation of 3D Feature Descriptors for Classification of Surface Geometries
in Point Clouds. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems,
Vilamoura, Portugal, 7th-12th of October 2012 ( IEEE Press), USA, pp1644-1650. Available at:
URN urn:nbn:de:0011-n-2252907
2. Arbeite, R. G., A framework for object training and 6 DoF pose estimation. Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Robotik: ROBOTIK 2012 - 7th German Conference on Robotics : Proceedings,
21-22 May 2012, Munich in Conjunction with Automatica 2012, pp513-518
3. Chivarov, N., Mixed reality server and remote interface communication for ROS based
robotic system. International Journal Automation Austria (IJAA). Vol. 20, Issue 2, pp. 144-
155, Available at: http://www.acin.tuwien.ac.at/
4. Ji, Z., Towards automated task planning for service robots using semantic knowledge
representation, IEEE INDIN, 2012
5. Mast, M., User-Centered Design of a Dynamic-Autonomy Remote Interaction Concept for
Manipulation-Capable Robots to Assist Elderly People in the Home. Journal of Human-Robot
Interaction. 1 (2012), Vol. 1, pp. 96-118. Available at: DOI 10.5898/JHRI.1.1.Mast
6. Liu, B., et al., Fuzzy Logic Based Symbolic Grounding for Best Grasp Pose for Homecare
Robotics, IEEE INDIN, 2012
7. Liu, B., et al., Fuzzy Optimisation Based Symbolic Grounding for Service Robots, IEEE/RSJ
International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Vilamoura, Portugal, 7th-12th
of October 2012
8. Mast, M., et al., User-centered design of a dynamic-autonomy remote interaction concept
for manipulation-capable robots to assist elderly people in the home. Journal of Human-
Robot Interaction, Vol 1, pp96-118. Available at: doi:10.5898/JHRI.1.1.Mast
9. Pigini, L., The proof of concept of a shadow robotic system for independent living at home.
Computers Helping People with Special Needs. 13th International Conference, ICCHP, Linz,
Austria, Vol. 7382, pp63641 7
10. Pigini, L., The Proof of Concept of a Shadow Robotic System for Independent Living at Home.
Computers Helping People with Special Needs, Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Part I,
LNCS 7382, pp. 634–641
11. Pigini, L., Service robots in elderly care at home: Users' needs and perceptions as a basis for
concept development. AAATE Journal: Technology and Disability. Vol. 24, pp. 303-311.
12. Qiu, R., Towards Robust Personal Assistant Robots: Experience Gained in the SRS Project.
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Vilamoura, Portugal,
7th-12th of October 2012
13. Qiu, R., et al., 2012 The proof of concept of a shadow robotic system for independent living
at home. In K. Miesenberger et al. (Eds.), Computers Helping People with Special Needs.
SRS Deliverable 7.3 Due date: 30th April 2013
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13th International Conference, ICCHP, Linz, Austria, July 2012, Proceedings, Part I. LNCS Vol.
7382. (pp. 634-641). Berlin & Heidelberg: Springer.
14. Reiser, U., 2013 Care-O-bot® 3 - Vision of a Robot Butler. Trappl, Robert (Ed.): Your Virtual
Butler : The Making-of. Berlin; Heidelberg : Springer, pp97-116. (Lecture Notes in Artificial
Intelligence 7407). Available at: DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-37346-6 9
Presentations:
1. Burmester, M., 2012, SRS user interaction approach at House of Lords workshop,
Westminster, London, UK. [Presentation held by HdM in London, United Kingdom].
November 2012.
2. Mast, M., SRS user interface concept at World Usability Day. [Presentation held by HdM in
Stuttgart, Germany]. November 2102.
3. Mast, M., Speech on SRS interaction concept and user interface approach as part of the
main track of the European Robotics Forum in Odense, Denmark. [Presentation held by HdM
in Odense, Denmark]. March 2012
4. Mast, M., 2012 Speech on SRS user interface concept at HdM's Day of Research.
[Presentation held by HdM in Stuttgart, Germany]. July 2012
Workshops and conference sessions:
1. Future Healthcare: Technology supported assistive living in the home [Workshop held at the
house of Lords, London, Great Britain]. 29 December 2012
2. Automatica Trade fair. Munich, Germany. 22-25 May 2013
3. Rehacare Trade fair, Dusseldorf, Germany. 8-12 October 2013
4. Innorobo Exhibition, Lyon, France. 19-21 March 2103
5. The Third Sofia Science Festival, SRS project with demonstration of UI_PRI and MRS
controlling the Care-o-Bot 3 simulation, 9-12 May 2013
6. The Third National Conference of “Service Robotics and Intelligent Systems 2013” organized
in the frame of the European Robotics Week, SRS and demonstration on the exhibition site,
29 November 2013
Others:
1. Singloch, R., 2012, Thesis on people's perception of robots’ visual appearance. HdM,
Stuttgart.
2. SRS Demonstration in a real life like environment, 2012, Directed by HdM (DVD). YouTube,
SRS official website.
3. SRS User Evaluation, 2013, Directed by HdM (DVD) Regio TV
4. SRS Robot, 2013, Directed by HdM (DVD) Spiel de National TV
5. SRS User Evaluation, 2013, Directed by HdM (DVD) Black Switzerland TV
6. SRS User Evaluation, 2013, Directed by HdM (DVD) Reuters TV
7. HdM, March 2013, SRS User Evaluation, Stuttgarter Zeitung.
8. SRS Movie, 2013, Directed by Fraunhofer (DVD) Stuttgart, Germany.
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