Robosoft

Major projects and activities in Biomedical Robotics

Project Name and Acronym	A Robotic Courier for On-demand Transport of Goods in Hospitals and Health Care centres
Duration	32 months
Web site	www.robosoft.fr/nestor
Sponsoring promoter
Funding programme	EC
Keywords	Robotic Courier, Social Services
Co-ordinating group	ROBOSOFT SA
Partners (group name, category*)	ROBOSOFT (www.robosoft.fr) Bidart, France FROG Navigation System (www.frog.nl), Utrecht, Netherland JRC ISIS (www.jrc.it), Ispra, Italy University Hospital of Giessen (UHG), Giessen, Germany Bispebjerg Hospital (H:S), Copenhagen, Denmark
Objectives	Developing a fully European system for on-demand transport of goods in hospitals
Relevant activities	Assisting caretakers by a robotic courier to reduce low added-value tasks such as pushing trolleys along corridors Studying non-technical issues related to the introduction of robots in hospitals, mainly, their acceptance by caretakers, patietents and visitors
Achieved biomedical robotic prototypes/ products	Work in progress
User/clinical trials
objectives	Perform 12 months full operations and evaluation of the NESTOR system in two pilot hospitals: UHG and HS
robotic systems	One full system configuration will be installed in each pilot sites for trials
methodologies
involved users (number and category)	Nurses, Health care operators
main results	Improvement of efficiency and cost-effectiveness of transport of goods in hospitals and health care centres
clinical partners	A part of UHG and H:S a panel of extended users is being set-up, with representatives in France, Netherland, Italy and Luxembourg
other relevant information

Summary of products, systems, prototypes

Name	Short description°
NESTOR system	- 1 robot - loading/unloading terminals - containers

Summary of current partners (technological, clinical, user)

Group name	Category*	Contacts
ROBOSOFT	Robotics Technology supplier	Antonella Semerano, antonella@robosoft.fr Tel. +33-(0)5 59 41 53 70 Fax: +33-(0)5 59 41 53 79
FROG Navigation System	Robotics technology supplier	Rudi de Vos Burchart, rudi@frog.nl Tel.: +31-30-2440550 Fax : +31-30-2440700
JRC-ISIS	Robotics technology supplier	Joao Goncalves, joao.goncalves@jrc.it Tel: +39-0332789310 Fax: +39-0332789150
UHG	End user	Ilme Hinkel, ilme.hinkel@informatik.med.uni-giessen.de Tel: +49 641 9941375 Fax: +49 641 9941359
HS	End user	Steen Dawids, sd02@bbh.hosp.dk Tel.:+ 45-35313418 Fax: +45-35313419

Available laboratories/equipment

Electronic laboratory	ROBOSOFT, France
Mechanical laboratory	ROBOSOFT, France
Software laboratory	ROBOSOFT-France, FROG-Netherlands, JRC-ISIS-Italy
Robotic equipment	ROBOSOFT-France, FROG-Netherlands
Other

Related publications

§ Sequeira V., Bovisio E., Gonçalves J.G.M. - "Internet Based Multimedia Interface for the Control and Navigation of a Mobile Platform" (Paper and Live Demo), IEEE Multimedia Systems'99 - International Conference on Multimedia Computing and Systems, vol. 2, pp. 566-571 and pp. 1005-1006, Florence, Italy, June 1999.

ARTS Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna

Major projects and activities in Biomedical Robotics

Project Name and Acronym	MOVAID – Mobility and Activity Assistance System for the disabled
Duration	Feb. 1994 – June 1997
Web site	http://www-arts.sssup.it/research/movaid.html
Sponsoring promoter	(X) EU ( ) National entity ___________ ( ) Other _____________
Funding programme	TIDE – Technology Innovation for the Disabled and Elderly
Keywords	Rehabilitation Robotics, Docking, Mobile robotics, Personal Robot
Co-ordinating group	Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA), Pisa, Italy
Partners (group name, category*)	SSSA, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy (www.sssup.it) DA, Domus Academy, Milan, Italy (www.domusacademy.com) Inserme Unitè 103, Montpellier, France FST, Fondation Suisse Pour la Theleteses, Neuchatel, Switzerland S.M., Scienzia Machinale s.r.l, Pisa, Italy Philips CD, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Biotrast, Thessaloniki, Greece DEA, University of Ancona, Ancona, Italy DIST, University of Genova, Genova, Italy CEA, Unitè Robotique, Paris, France AD/Del Tongo, Arezzo, Italy Sponsoring Partners: Whirlpool Italia S.r.l., Varese, Italy Fondazione Cassa di Risparmi di Livorno, Livorno, Italy OAMI, Opera Assistenza Malati Impediti, Livorno, Italy ASL 6, Azienda Sanitaria Locale N. 6, Livorno, Italy
Objectives	To develop a home robotic assistant for disabled and elderly people
Relevant activities	User-oriented design of the robotic system, including analysis of user’s needs through interviews and user trials Design and development of novel components (e.g. docking system, robotic head, tray and bumper, supervisory system, user interface, user-robot co-operation tools) Integration of novel and existing components (robotic arm and hand, mobile base, low level controllers) into one prototype and installation in a residential site for disabled people Design and development of special interfaces for common appliances (microwave oven and electric citrus press)
Achieved biomedical robotic prototypes/ products	MOVAID prototype robotic system: the MOVAID system consists of a mobile unit and a number of fixed workstations in the house, to which the mobile unit can physically dock, so that it combines the performance of a robotic workstation (when docked) with the flexibility of a mobile robot. It has a graphical user interface, running on the PCs standing as the fixed workstations. The user interface is not only meant for sending commands and receiving feedback messages, but also for user-robot co-operation in task execution. The user interface shows the user a continuous visual feed-back from on-board cameras and the user can indicate objects and positions to the robot through point&click on the image. This does not only increase acceptability, by giving the user the feeling of monitoring what the robot is doing and of being involved in task execution, but it also reduces the technical complexity of some tasks, e.g. object recognition by vision. The mobile robotic unit is composed of a three-wheel vehicle with US sensors, an active bumper and a tray, an 8 dof arm equipped with a 2 dof hand and a pan-tilt head supporting a binocular vision system and a self-localisation system. It can navigate in the house avoiding unexpected obstacles, grasp and manipulate common objects and dock to the fixed workstations for data exchange and power supply. Prototype of special interface for microwave oven
User/clinical trials
Objectives	To validate the MOVAID prototype
robotic systems	MOVAID system
Methodologies	User trials and demonstrations Functional evaluation of the system by technicians, Direct evaluation by therapists (observing the user trials), indirect evaluation by users Data collected through forms (filled up by techniciams and therapists) and questionnaires (answered by users and their assistants)
involved users (number and category)	207 in total: 143 disabled people involved in users’ needs analysis 64 disabled and elderly involved in user trials: 10 elderly persons involved in user trials on the microwave oven interface 7 severely disabled people (tetraplegic/paraplegic) involved in user trials on the robotic system 47 severely disabled people (tetraplegic) involved in demonstrations
main results	Assessment of the acceptability of a robotic assistant
clinical partners	Therapists of ASL 6 (Public health care local unit), Livorno, Italy Medical doctors and therapists of CTO (Orthopedic Traumatologic Hospital), Careggi, Florence, Italy Carers of Elderly Centres ‘L’arcipelago’ and ‘Centro Gerundini’, Ancona, Italy Medical doctors and therapists of the Propara and Bouffard-Vercelli Centres, Montpellier, France Therapists of FST (Fondation Suisse pour les Theletesis), Neuchatel, Switzerland
other relevant information

More projects to be inserted

Project Name and Acronym	...
Duration
Web site
Sponsoring promoter
Funding programme
Keywords
Co-ordinating group
Partners (group name, category*)
Objectives
Relevant activities
Achieved biomedical robotic prototypes/ products
User/clinical trials
objectives
robotic systems
methodologies
involved users (number and category)
main results
clinical partners
other relevant information

Summary of products, systems, prototypes

Name	Short description°
URMAD/HOSPIMAID system	Hospital assistance mobile robotic system
MOVAID system	Home assistance mobile robotic system
Explorer + Manus platform	Wheelchair-mounted manipulator
B21r + Manus platform	Mobile robot for home/hospital assistance
…

Summary of current partners (technological, clinical, user)

Group name	Category*	Web site
EURON network	Technological Research	www.euron.org
INAIL RTR Centre (Research Centre on Rehabilitation Bioengineering), Viareggio, Italy	Technological research	http://www.rtr.sssup.it
ASL 6, Livorno, Italy	Service providers
Centro INAIL di Riabilitazione Motoria (INAIL Centre for Motor Rehabilitation), Volterra (Pisa), Italy	Service providers and Clinical researchers
Fondazione Stella Maris	Clinical researchers
…

Available laboratories/equipment

Electronic laboratory	ORCAD, ...
Mechanical laboratory	Workshop Traditional Machines, Numeric control machines, PRO E, Pro Mechanica, Clean Room, …
Software laboratory	Visual Studio, Borland Delphi, …
Robotic equipment	Dexter Arm (8 dof anthropomorphic arm) Puma 562 (6 dof arm) Marcus Hand (2 dof prosthetic hand, to be mounted on the Dexter and PUMA arms) Manus Manipulator (6 dof wheelchair-mounted arm, with a 1 dof gripper) Handy 1 robotic system (simple robotic arm for feeding disabled persons) RWI –B21 mobile base (equipped with US and IR sensory system, laser self-localisation system and on-board cameras) RWI Pioneer II Mobile Base (small mobile base for education) …..
Other	Netsight Vision System 2 TGR Explorer electric wheelchairs (with wheels tracks, able to climb stairs) Lego Mindstorms (programmable block toy) ….

Related publications

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* Among: technological developers, technological researchers, clinical researcher, service providers, users