智慧型行動輔助居家照護機器人研發---子計畫一：行動輔助機器人之移動平台與智慧行為控制器研製

Abstract

台灣及世界上主要經濟體如美國、日本、歐洲等許多國家都面臨高齡化社會的到來， 另一方面，台灣、日本亦都面臨未來少子化的社會，致使許多老年人未來往往是獨居 生活。觀察到照護老年人的人力將嚴重不足，近年來已許多提議以機器人照護或協助 老年人。本計畫之主要目的即在研製一個行動輔助與看護機器人之運動平台，使其能 成為老年人與行動不便者一個生活輔助或步行訓練的伴隨機器人。我們的設計理念為 「使行動輔助機器人使用起來就像柺杖般容易可靠，但它擁有自主與智慧看護行為！」 本計畫預計分成三年來完成，第一年的重點放在行動輔助機器人的機構設計與運動控 制，主要目標在設計一個能符合多數使用者之扶持機構及高靈活性的移動平台，並將 使用者施予的推力加入控制迴路裡(Human-in-the-loop)，研究順應性運動控制器，讓使 用者可以輕鬆的操作行動輔助機器人。第二年之研究重點在自動定位與自主式導航設 計，在作法上將發展以無線感測網路Zigbee與慣性導航設計行動輔助機器人室內定位 模組，並研發室內導航模組讓行動輔助機器人導引使用者前往設定之地點。第三年之 重點在設計智慧看護行為，透過對使用者人體姿態的辨識，使無論是在輔助行進當中 或居家照護皆可判斷使用者是否發生緊急狀況，若發生緊急狀況，便立刻通知相關人 員前來處理。另外亦將整合前兩年的研究成果設計一個操作簡單的人機介面，可輕鬆 操控行動輔助機器人。多年來申請人實驗室持續研發輪型機器人及影像處理與傳輸等 技術，過程中累積許多設計經驗與軟硬體模組，我們很有信心能在期限內達成行動輔 助機器人之研發。

Many countries world-wide such as Japan, United States of America, European countries and Taiwan are facing an aged society. The low birth rate in Japan and Taiwan will cause lacking of manpower in the future. It is well recognized that elderly care will become a serious problem for our society. Some researchers proposed to develop elderly-care robots to assist the elderly solve this problem. The main objective of this project is to develop a walking helper robot to assist the elderly. The walking helper can also be used by impaired people for walking rehabilitation. The basic idea for developing the robotic platform is 「to design a walking helper that is as easy as a cane; but it is intelligent to take care of its master.」 We plan to complete the project in three years. In the first year, the main task will be the design of a flexible motion platform of the walking helper and implement a compliant motion controller. In the second year, we will focus on the self-localization of the robot in an indoor environment. Wireless Zigbee modules will be adopted to position an object which contains a Zigbee tag in the working space. A navigation system will be designed for the robotic system. The integration of the navigation system with the compliant motion control will be investigated. At this stage, the walking helper can have some autonomy to find a path to the assigned place for the elderly. In the third year, intelligent elderly-care functions such as fall detection, health-condition monitoring will be integrated to the walking helper. An evaluation procedure will be carried to test the applicability of the designed hardware and software modules through field tests. We are confident that these objectives will be completed in the scheduled research period.