Control of a Meal Assistance Robot Capable of Using Chopsticks
Conference: ISR/ROBOTIK 2010 - ISR 2010 (41st International Symposium on Robotics) and ROBOTIK 2010 (6th German Conference on Robotics)
06/07/2010 - 06/09/2010 at Munich, Germany
Proceedings: ISR/ROBOTIK 2010
Pages: 6Language: englishTyp: PDF
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Authors:
Koshizaki, Tomoki; Masuda, Ryosuke (Tokai University, School of Information Science and Technology, 4-1-1 Kitakaname Hiratsuka-shi Kanagawa, 259-1292, Japan)
Abstract:
We have developed a meal-assistance robot for use by disabled or elderly persons who cannot consume food unassisted. This robot is capable of using chopsticks. In this paper, a control system for our chopstick-equipped meal-assistance robot is introduced. The control system and the chopsticks operating mechanism of the robot utilize both a visual and a tactile control system. The force sensor is used to control the grasping force of the chopsticks, which can adapt to a wide variety of physical food characteristics. The control system of the meal-assistance robot was then fabricated and dining experiments using chopsticks were carried out. The results of the experiments confirmed the effectiveness of the control system.