(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012)
Emeli, Victor; Wagner, Alan R.; Kemp, Charles C.
Poor medication adherence and dehydration are
well-documented challenges for older adults living independently
that lead to reduced quality of life. Robotic delivery
of pills and water in the home could potentially improve
medication adherence and hydration for older adults by providing
timely, reliable, and convenient delivery. In this technical
report, we present a prototype multi-robot system that can
autonomously deliver pills and water to a person in a realistic
home environment. The system consists of a mobile robot with
a tray, a stationary dispensing robot, and a smartphone carried
by the user. Within this paper, we discuss the opportunity to
improve quality of life, describe our robotic system, and convey
results from an experimental evaluation of the system’s delivery
performance.