Design of cognitive assistive robotic systems for the elderly and the physically challenged

据估计，到2050年，85岁以上的人口将是今天的三倍[联合国，“世界人口展望”，2004年修订版]。在加拿大，到2050年，超过25%的人口将超过85岁。预计这一老龄化人口中的很大一部分人需要身体和认知方面的帮助。这意味着医疗保健成本的大幅增加，这对政府预算和保险提供商来说是一个明显的负担。这项拟议的研究计划被称为“认知辅助机器人”(CAR)，涉及设计一种具有与人类相似的认知能力(尽管范围和复杂性较小)的辅助机器(特别是这项工作中的机器人)，以帮助老年人和残疾人满足他们最基本的需求(举几个例子，拿着和取回物体，操作和处理设备，在障碍物周围自由移动，与机器交流，等等)。这项研究计划的长期目标是创造一个认知辅助机器人环境(CARE)，可以帮助老年人和有特殊需要的人执行日常生活任务。护理有赖于环境各组成部分提供的服务的正确交错，如认知辅助机器人、无线传感器网络和辅助住房技术。所要求的设备将提供必要的实验设施，以调查开发能够改善老年人护理和技术援助的可获得性和质量的机器人助理的不同挑战。引领这种设计下一代认知辅助机器人的研究活动，肯定会使加拿大的研究人员走在机器人研究的前沿，并最终可能在商业解决方案方面带来巨额意外之财，使加拿大经济和医疗保健部门受益。

It is estimated that in the year 2050, there will be three times more people over the age 85 than there are today [UN, "World Population Prospects," The 2004 Revision]. In Canada, more than 25% of the population will be over the age 85 in 2050. A significant portion of this aging population is expected to need physical and cognitive assistance. This implies huge increase in health care costs, an obvious burden on government budgets and insurance providers. The proposed research initiative, termed as 'Cognitive Assistive Robotics' (CAR), involves the design of an assistive machine (specifically a robot in the context of this work) with human-like cognitive abilities (albeit with reduced scope and complexity) to assist with some varying levels of efficiency elderly and disabled individuals with their most basic needs (holding and retrieving objects, operating and handling devices, moving freely around obstacles, communicating with machines, to name a few). The long-term goal of this research initiative is to create a Cognitive Assistive Robotic Environment (CARE) that can help elderly people and people with special needs perform daily living tasks. CARE relies on the correct interleaving of the services provided by the various components of the environment such as cognitive assistive robots, wireless sensor networks and assistive housing technologies. The equipment requested will provide the necessary experimental facilities to investigate the different challenges of developing robotic assistants that can improve the availability and quality of care and technical assistance for the elderly people. Pioneering such research activities for designing next generation cognitive assistive robotics, will certainly put Canadian researchers at the forefront of robotic research and may ultimately lead to huge windfalls in terms of commercial solutions benefiting the Canadian economy and the health care sector.