The National Science Foundation’s “Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity” www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15610/nsf15610.pdf project is working on next generation assistive robots to support nurses working in hospitals. NSF awarded the University of Texas at Arlington www.uta.edu $999,946 to develop the robots.
University researchers will create new design tools able to configure the hardware and software for “Adaptive Robotic Nursing Assistants” (ARNA).The ARNAs will be specifically designed to assist nurses in healthcare facilities with simple tasks.
The robots will help nurses lift and help them deliver everyday lightweight objects such as medicine and medical wearable equipment. They also will be able to help with moving heavy objects such as furniture, gurneys, and the patients themselves. The engineering innovations gained in this project may help in broader consumer markets in addition to hospitals, such as in the home market, in public venues.
The ARNAs will navigate cluttered hospitals equipped with multi-modal skin sensors to anticipate nurse intent, automate mundane low-level tasks, but at the same time, still keep the nurses in the decision loop.
There will be two kinds of robots such as sitter robots that will take vital sign feedback to and from nurses. The walker robots will assist nurses and patients by providing partial balance support, navigate cluttered environments, and help transport medical equipment.
UT at Arlington will work on the project using researchers from the College of Engineering www.uta.edu/engineering, College of Nursing and Health Innovation www.uta.edu/nursing, and UT’s Arlington Research Institute (UTARI) www.uta.edu/utari.
Primary industrial partners includes QinetiQ-North America www.qinetiq-na.com, a large corporation specializing in unmanned system located in Waltham Massachusetts, and RE2 Robots www.resquared.com, a small business specializing in modular robotic manipulators located in Pittsburgh.