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Ambient Assisted Living pp 15–29Cite as

Design of the Human-Robot Interaction for a Semi-Autonomous Service Robot to Assist Elderly People

Part of the Advanced Technologies and Societal Change book series (ATSC)

Abstract

Service robots could support elderly people’s activities of daily living and enable them to live in their own residences independently as long as possible. Current robot technology does not allow reliable fully autonomous operation of service robots with manipulation capabilities in the heterogeneous environments of private homes. We developed and evaluated a usage concept for semi-autonomous robot control as well as user interfaces for three user groups. Elderly people are provided with simple access to autonomous robot services through a handheld device. In case of problems with autonomous execution the robot contacts informal caregivers (e.g. relatives) who can support the robot using semi-autonomous teleoperation. To solve more complex problems, professional teleoperators are contacted who have extended remote access.

Keywords

  • Human-robot interaction
  • Service robots
  • Teleoperation
  • Semi-autonomy
  • User interface design

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stuttgart Media University, Stuttgart, Germany

    Marcus Mast & Michael Burmester

  2. Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    Marcus Mast

  3. Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, Stuttgart, Germany

    Birgit Graf, Florian Weisshardt & Georg Arbeiter

  4. Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic

    Michal Španěl, Zdeněk Materna & Pavel Smrž

  5. Austrian Center for Medical Innovation and Technology, Wiener Neustadt, Austria

    Gernot Kronreif

Authors
  1. Marcus Mast
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  2. Michael Burmester
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  3. Birgit Graf
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  4. Florian Weisshardt
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  5. Georg Arbeiter
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  6. Michal Španěl
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  7. Zdeněk Materna
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  8. Pavel Smrž
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  9. Gernot Kronreif
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Burmester .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fraunhofer-Allianz AAL/Fraunhofer IGD, Darmstadt, Germany

    Reiner Wichert

  2. VDE-Verbandsgeschäftsstelle Verband der Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik e.V., Frankfurt, Germany

    Helmut Klausing

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Mast, M. et al. (2015). Design of the Human-Robot Interaction for a Semi-Autonomous Service Robot to Assist Elderly People. In: Wichert, R., Klausing, H. (eds) Ambient Assisted Living. Advanced Technologies and Societal Change. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11866-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11866-6_2

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