Robots make life at home easier
So far, robots have been primarily used in industrial contexts. A team of researchers at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences is now investigating how robots can be integrated into the intelligent home to take on traditional everyday tasks.
Picture this: in the intelligent, fully networked home of the future, robots will support people in performing everyday tasks. If, for example, a flowerpot were to tip over in the living room, sensors in the house would record the event and activate the vacuum cleaning robot. The house would even think independently and regulate the temperature automatically depending on how many people are in a room. What sounds like dreams of the future may very soon become reality. Scientists on the Minden campus of Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences are working hard on the intelligent home (or smart home), where robots are to make everyday life more comfortable and carefree.
Under the direction of Professors Matthias König and Sven Battermann, the “Service Robots in the Smart Home” project aims to optimise communication and thus the interaction between service robots and the intelligent environment of a building. But not only the building intelligence is meant to be networked with the robots, but also the robots amongst themselves, which enables the exchange of, or mutual access to, sensor data. One essential aspect is that both the service robots and the building intelligence know the position of the robots in the house.
Supported by an interdisciplinary research team, König and Battermann are also investigating user-specific interaction of humans and machines. Specifically, this involves the use of a two-finger gripper arm in the smart home. This robot should be able to pick up light objects, such as clothes, and hand them to the user, who merely has to point a finger. Applications such as cleaning tasks or picking up and carrying objects also play a central role in the support of people in need of care. For this reason, the project will formulate separate requirements for human–machine interaction tailored to this user group.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is supporting the research project with about 380,000 euros within the framework of the FHprofUnt funding line as part of the Research at Universities of Applied Sciences programme.