New Anchor Robotics facility opens to develop robots that help elderly to live independently

Bristol Robotics
Laboratory (BRL) is launching its latest project – the Anchor Robotics
Personalised Assisted Living (ARPAL) facility – that will enable robotics
researchers, elderly people with assistive needs and those supporting them, to
work together to devise and test new robotic solutions in a home environment.

The work that takes place in the facility will focus on enabling elderly
people to live safe and independent lives in their own homes for as long as
possible with the assistance of personally adaptive robotic systems.

The facility launch took place at the BRL which is based at the
University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) Frenchay Campus on Wednesday 9
September.

The ARPAL facility is sponsored by the Anchor Society, a
charity that supports the elderly, frail and isolated in Bristol and the
neighbouring regions, who want to see more people ageing actively in their own
homes.

The new ARPAL facility will provide a ‘Living Lab’ environment. The
‘Living Lab’ concept refers to a set of methodologies and tools for the
co-creation and validation of innovation together with the end-users in
real-world environments. Having been designed to resemble a typical single
level home comprising an open-plan living, dining and kitchen area and a
bathroom and bedroom, the facility will enable researchers to carry out
experiments of innovative robotic technology in a lifelike environment. This
will help develop pragmatic solutions and reduce time to market.

The facility has been instrumented with a network of wireless sensors
linked to a Smart Home Controller Hub, Wi-Fi cameras and an ADSL connection.
The UWE Bristol team at BRL are using the data generated from the sensors to
detect patterns of activity in the house to build adaptable algorithms. The
algorithms will be used to record individual habits to devise personalised
robotic systems especially adapted to each person’s lifestyle to support
independent living.

Theme leader for Assisted Living in the BRL and Head of Electronics and
Computer Systems at Designability, Dr Praminda Caleb-Solly, is developing the
new setting to enable teamwork with elderly people, carers, families,
clinicians and residential care providers who will play a critical role in the
future development of novel robots so that they are useful and responsive to
the needs of the people they are designed to help.

Dr Caleb-Solly said, “Participatory design with the people and
organisations who will be using the technology is critical to the way we are
developing robots to support older adults in the future.

“All of our work is centred on a deep understanding of the needs of
people so that we shape the technology to respond appropriately. The facility
has been constructed to standardised specifications so that robots and smart
integrated devices can be rigorously tested and validated for safety and
evaluated in conjunction with end users to ensure that they have a high level
of utility and usability.”

Bob Durie, Chair of the Anchor Society said, “The Anchor Society sees
the support of robotics to be part of our role to produce innovative solutions
for helping our beneficiaries to enable them to live more fruitful lives and to
reduce isolation in the elderly. We live in a fast changing world and our
generous donors expect our charity to deliver support for those we can help by
harnessing new technology and expertise”

Dr Caleb-Solly describes a current experiment; she said, “We are using
the sensor data to build algorithms that learn the habits of an elderly person
so that robots can offer timely and personalised assistance if, for example,
someone forgets to eat, drink or take medicines. Sensors have been fitted to
furniture, doors, medicine bottles, fridges, plugs and kettles.

“The sensors send information to a smart home controller hub, developed
by
ContinuumBridge, who
started working with BRL researchers as part of a joint Innovate UK Internet of
Sensors project. The sensor data is then sent to a Cloud server and also
processed locally, enabling a robot to react if something untoward happens. For
example some medicines should only be taken after eating and if the algorithms
analysing the sensor information from the fridge, cooker, cupboard and kettle
sensors, deem that there is a high probability that the person hasn’t had
anything to eat for a while, then when the person opens the medicine drawer, a
robot is then mobilised to remind the person to eat first before taking the
medicine. This active reminder from a robot can be more interactive and
engaging than, say a text message on a phone, which might even be in another
room.

“We have also fitted the home with a telepresence robot that
enables remote monitoring. If an alert is sent because there is no activity in
the house during a certain time period, when habitual recorded algorithms would
indicate a person would normally be up and about, an alert might be sent to the
carer remotely who can try and contact the person via the usual channels, for
example phone or text message. If there is no response from the person then the
carer could activate the telepresence robot and see if there is a problem.

“If the person has had a fall or a heart attack for example appropriate
emergency assistance can be deployed immediately and if they are able to, they
can be reassured by the carer remotely while help arrives. This technology
could avoid expensive triggering of emergency services when they are not needed
but also ensures that they are deployed faster if necessary.”

Professor Chris Melhuish, Director of the BRL said, “The Anchor Robotics
facility is the latest innovation at the world leading Bristol Robotics
Laboratory which is an outward looking research hub focused on building
connections with businesses and organisations to develop real life solutions so
that the technology of the future matches the needs of society through research
and through business technology incubation projects.”