Servo - November 2009

Robytes

by Jeff Eckert

Nursebot Strong Like Bear

RIBA, the first robot to move patients between bed and wheelchair.

The hot summer months must have parboiled a few brain cells in the bot industry, with the result being an unusual rash of creepy robots. For example, just imagine you’re slowly waking up from surgery performed under the auspices of a heavy dose of Propofol (probably not administered by Conrad Murray), and the first thing you notice is that you’re being cradled in the arms of a big, fat, foam rubber polar bear. It’s not likely that you’re in hell, as polar bears tend to favor cooler climates. But this ain’t no angel, either. It’s actually the Robot for Interactive Body Assistance (RIBA), developed in a joint venture between Japan’s RIKEN (Institute of Physical and Chemical Research) and Tokai Rubber Industries ( rtc.nagoya. riken.jp/RIBA/index-e.html).

The bot is designed to save wear and tear on human nurses by relieving them of the task of lifting patients and moving them from bed to wheelchair or vice versa. RIBA is fitted with precision tactile sensors to ensure patient comfort, and two cameras and two microphones enable it to follow the operator’s visual and audio cues.

The only apparent “oops” in the design is RIBA’s inability to lift anything heavier than 134 lb ( 61 kg). That might fly in Japan — where the

obesity rate is only about three percent — but the lard-laden USA doesn’t seem to offer much of a market.

Blood-Sucking Bot

Robotic phlebotomist “Bloodbot.” Courtesy of Imperial College, London.

Also not for the squeamish is a prototype “Bloodbot,” developed by Alex Zivanovic and Brian Davies at Imperial College, London (www3. imperial.ac.uk). It’s designed to take samples from the ante-cubital fossa (ACF), which is the area in the crease of the arm where the veins are close to the surface of the skin. Once the device locates a suitable vein, it inserts a needle. Piezo-resistive force sensors detect when it has pierced the vein, keeping it from overshooting the target and coming out the other side of your arm.

The bot has been tested on a dummy limb consisting of a bunch of rubber tubes embedded in jelly, all covered with a latex membrane that simulates skin. Assuming that’s a good simulation of your arm, it should work fine. Anyone want to be the first to try it out?

First Robotic Kiss

Close your eyes and imagine a kiss between two beings who are

Thomas and Janet rehearse for a performance of Phantom of the Opera. Courtesy of Taiwan Tech.

incapable of real feelings, who exist beneath a plastic exterior, and whose every move must be programmed because of their lack of innate intelligence. No, it’s not Brad and Angelina. It’s Thomas and Janet, creations of Chyi-Yeu Lin, a mechanical engineering professor at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (www-e. ntust.edu.tw). Somehow it slipped our attention that late last year these automatons performed what is believed to be the first kiss between two humanoid robots, during a robotic performance of scenes from Phantom of the Opera. And it won’t stop there.

According to Lin, “We aim to form a group composed of autonomous robots, which are like well-trained versatile performers. They cannot only perform different plays, sing songs, or broadcast news, but also interact with real persons appropriately.”