Caregiving Robot Cueing With Environmental Maps and User-Specific Alerts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for providing cues to care-receivers in caregiving and medical settings, such as monitoring devices and environmental sensors, face issues like burden on users, limited recognition range, and failure to recognize behaviors in dead spaces, with autonomous mobile robots providing unnecessary cues due to varying ambient danger levels and lack of environmental mapping.
Innovation Solution
A robot apparatus that generates an environmental map, recognizes users, and provides cues based on user-specific levels of care and predicted behaviors, using a computer storage device to store cueing point information and user information, with a determining unit that issues cues when a user approaches predetermined regions or exhibits specific behaviors, and includes a drive unit to move towards the user for cue delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a monitoring/warning device is worn around the care-receiver's neck, then the care-receiver can receive continuous monitoring and warning cues, but the monitoring/warning device imposes a burden on the care-receiver
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables the environment to monitor and warn automatically without requiring the care-receiver to wear or carry any device. The monitoring function is embedded in the environment itself, allowing the space to serve the monitoring purpose rather than the user having to carry monitoring equipment.
2Device complexity
If a monitoring camera is fixed to one position, then the system structure is simple, but the camera can recognize only a limited range and is unable to recognize behavior in dead spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring function is divided into multiple camera units positioned at different locations throughout the environment. Each camera covers a specific zone, and together they provide comprehensive coverage of the entire space, eliminating dead spaces while maintaining relatively simple individual camera structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a single fixed monitoring point to a distributed multi-dimensional monitoring network. By adding spatial distribution across multiple positions, the system achieves comprehensive coverage without significantly increasing the complexity of individual monitoring components.
3Reliability
If the autonomous mobile apparatus moves in front of a person or emits a warning beep in advance to reduce the degree of danger, then the degree of danger is reduced, but this operation is unnecessary and cumbersome for a person who can predict the degree of danger by himself/herself
Solution Approach 1:
The warning behavior is customized for each user based on their individual needs and capabilities. The system provides intensive monitoring and frequent warnings for users with higher safety needs, while providing minimal or no warnings for users who can independently assess danger, thereby optimizing both safety and convenience for each individual.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adjusts warning parameters such as warning frequency, warning type, and intervention timing based on user characteristics and real-time situation assessment. This allows the same monitoring system to adapt its behavior to match different user needs, providing appropriate safety levels without unnecessary interference.
4Quantity of substance
If the autonomous mobile apparatus does not store the ambient environment in advance and successively recognizes the ambient environment, then the system memory requirement is reduced, but the apparatus may not give any cue at all to behavior regarding previously unrecognized ambient environment
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary recognition and mapping of the ambient environment during setup or initial operation phases. By pre-storing environmental information such as obstacle locations, safe zones, and hazard areas, the system ensures comprehensive cue coverage during subsequent operations without requiring excessive memory resources during active monitoring.
Data Source
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AI summary
A robot apparatus (100), method and computer program storage device use a memory that stores cueing point information and user information to assist a user in an external environment. The cueing points are distributed within an environmental map held by the robot apparatus, and when the user is detected by the robot apparatus as approaching a predetermined region within the external environment classified as a cueing point, the robot apparatus reacts by providing a cue to the user. The cue may user-specific, or optionally provided based on a level of care required by the user.