It's a beautiful day in Sunny South, FL. I feel like going to the beach. Would anyone like to join me? lol :-) Anywho, today I have an interesting post for your reading enjoyment. Recently, I talked about Dr. Kevin Chung and how he's using a robot to help wounded troops. Today's post evolves around the same concept of robotic care but the difference is...we have a robo nurse as opposed to a robo doctor. Nevertheless, check out the article below. It will provide you w/ more details on this so called 'Robo Nurse'. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. With that being said, I am proud to present: Twendy-One: Nursing...Robotic style! Enjoy! :-)
The Japanese unveiled another robot designed to help care for their quickly ageing population. Researchers from Waseda University, presented their new home service robot named Twenty-One. The new robot looks massive standing just less than 1.5 meters tall but making up for its lack of height with lots of width. It is also rather heavy weighing nearly 250 pounds. The robot has a humanoid upper body with two arms; the upper body is mounted on top of a wheeled base creating a more stable robotic platform compared to the current state-of-the-art in legged robots.
TWENDY-ONE is an advanced version of the WENDY robot (Waseda Engineering Designed sYmbiont) which was developed in 1999 in Sugano Laboratory, Waseda University. WENDY equipped the passive impedance mechanism in each joint of its two arms. Passivity is a key technology which is required for robots to perform various tasks with human in daily life. WENDY also has the human mimetic dexterous hand and it is the first robot in the world, which could break an egg skillfully.
Twendy-One Robo Profile
What: A robotic servant that can help the elderly live more-independent lives
Where: Tokyo
Why: About 85 percent of people over the age of 65 suffer from at least one chronic health condition.
Wow: Lightly tapping force and pressure sensors in Twendy-One's chest tells the robot to back off.
Twendy-One, the bedside nurse-bot, has soft fingertips nimble enough to delicately grip a drinking straw and arms with the strength to lift an adult out of bed. The machine is designed to help Japan's growing population of frail and elderly continue to live in their own homes. Researchers at Waseda University in Tokyo say Twendy-One can clean floors, carry patients, and even bring them breakfast in bed. The next task is refining the software and mechanics to allow it to safely respond to commands to do things like fetch medication or refreshments. But start saving now: Scientists expect Twendy-One to go on sale within a decade for about $200,000.
Twendy-One robot official website with more information and videos
End Note:
I think it's amazing how healthcare is evolving. Sooner or later, we'll have robots doing all types of patient care. My only hopes is that when this occurs they don't substitute robots for humans. With that being said, what are your thoughts? Did you find this post interesting? Feel free to share your thoughts and/or leave any comments you may have. I'd love to hear from you. Have a wonderful day everyone! Take care. Peace, Love, and God Bless. This is 'thedoc' and I'm signing out. 1.
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