Title :
Development of hair-washing robot equipped with scrubbing fingers
Author :
Hirose, Toshinori ; Fujioka, Soichiro ; Mizuno, Osamu ; Nakamura, Tohru
Author_Institution :
Robot Dev. Center, Panasonic Corp., Osaka, Japan
Abstract :
We have developed the world´s first hair-washing robot equipped with scrubbing fingers. This robot assists in washing hair in hospitals or care facilities, and it eases the burden of healthcare professionals and care workers while it brings a higher quality of life to patients and others in need of nursing care. It features the mechanical and control technologies needed for touching someone gently on the head. These include, for instance, the self-aligning mechanism and the cylindrical rack mechanism of the robot´s end effector, the parallel link mechanism of its pressing arm, and the compliance control for providing an appropriate sense of pressure.
Keywords :
compliance control; end effectors; health care; pressure control; service robots; care facility; care worker; compliance control; control technology; cylindrical rack mechanism; end effector; hair-washing robot; healthcare professional; hospital; mechanical technology; nursing care; parallel link mechanism; patient quality of life; pressing arm; pressure; scrubbing finger; self-aligning mechanism; End effectors; Force; Hair; Head; Pressing; Robot sensing systems;
Conference_Titel :
Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2012 IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Saint Paul, MN
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-1403-9
Electronic_ISBN :
1050-4729
DOI :
10.1109/ICRA.2012.6224794