Kill the robots! They will be taking our Jobs!!
Pesky robots! Well how about this. Two stories have been released today featuring robots trying to do the role of a OT/PT.
The first is a robot designed to assist mobility more than anything else it seems.
""We came up with the idea of a walking and balance-training device," Brown said, and the trio formed the company, Chicago PT, in Evanston, to build the robots.
The beauty of the robot is its ability to catch a person undergoing physical rehabilitation before he or she falls, yet give him enough freedom to make progress, Brown said.
The patient straps himself into the robot as a sort of skeletal frame. The robot's main frame, or buggy, is wired with sensors that send feedback to the machine's wheels. Based on that feedback, the wheels' velocity and direction adjust to let the person move freely.
The robot's harness can catch the person's fall, and help lift the person's weight.
A torso mechanism, which attaches to the chest and back, allows the patient to reach up, forward or sideways, or it can be made rigid to ensure that the patient stands upright.
"The patient can walk around, and try sophisticated balancing and walking tasks with the aid of a helper," Brown said"
Sounds ruddy scary if you ask me! See more here
The second, called "Pearl" (grooan - I dare say a geek named it after Perl - the programming language) is looking at more social aspects..
"The goal of the NurseBot project is to develop mobile, personal service robots that assist elderly people suffering from chronic disorders in their everyday life. "Pearl", the NurseBot is an autonomous mobile robot that "lives" in a private home of a chronically ill elderly person. The robot provides a research platform to test out a range of ideas for assisting elderly people, such as: What would you like to have a robot help out with around the house?"
See more here [medgadget].
Interesting ideas - and although in early days of development we may well be seeing this kind of thing in a home near you soon.... well ok, honestly I very much doubt it.
