Could now assist hospital staff with everyday tasks, expanding their roles beyond typical functions like surgery or patient care, thanks to advances in their mobile and manipulation capabilities<\/p>\n
The demand for efficient, reliable and flexible automation in hospitals is crucial. Current systems only automate parts of hospital processes, creating \u2018islands of automation\u2019 that are limited in scope and still rely on manual intervention for distributing goods and samples.<\/p>\n
The EU-funded HARMONY project sought to develop assistive robotic mobile manipulation technologies tailored to hospital environments. HARMONY targeted two use cases: automating on-demand delivery tasks and automating bioassay sample flows. By leveraging advanced mobile manipulation technologies, HARMONY bridged the gaps left by existing solutions, offering a high degree of flexibility to changing demands and user preferences.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal was to transform hospital environments through the development of assistive robotic mobile manipulation technologies,\u201d notes project vice-coordinator Lionel Ott. \u201cUnlike traditional robotic systems, which often focus on surgical interventions or patient interaction, HARMONY was designed to support hospital staff in their diverse daily activities, thereby addressing a crucial gap in healthcare automation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGuided by real-world challenges faced by end users, HARMONY\u2019s research targeted two specific use cases,\u201d continues Ott. \u201cThe first involved the agile transport of small goods around the hospital, while the second focused on laboratory settings, where our technology aided in sample manipulation, facilitating processes like unpacking before analysis.\u201d These scenarios are not merely theoretical but everyday tasks that hospital staff encounter, demonstrating the tangible benefits of HARMONY\u2019s solutions.<\/p>\n
To ensure efficient autonomous mobile manipulation technology for human-centred environments, researchers made several fundamental contributions to existing autonomous robotic technologies. \u201cThe success of our project hinges on seamlessly integrating advanced technologies into a user-friendly framework. This approach aims to ensure that these robotic systems can seamlessly integrate into current spaces, eliminating the need for extensive re-engineering of the environment for operation alongside humans,\u201d states Ott.<\/p>\n
HARMONY contributed significantly to several areas in robotics, particularly in enhancing perception and mapping in dynamic environments, as well as improving navigation and planning in crowded settings. Furthermore, it helped ensure safe whole-body control around humans and advanced non-verbal interactions between humans and robots. By blending the latest work in object-based perception and learning for manipulation, HARMONY significantly elevated the technology readiness of its demonstrated technologies.<\/p>\n
Successful deployments of the newly developed technologies in hospital environments allowed hospital staff and the public to witness the technologies in action, fostering engagement and dialogue with the researchers.<\/p>\n
HARMONY significantly advanced scientific research while simultaneously driving industrial innovation, contributing to the development of future-ready products by the project industrial partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur extensive research into the technologies powering robotic systems has been published, with many components available as open-source code. This provides an essential foundation for future research, accelerating advancements in mobile manipulation technologies within the healthcare sector,\u201d states Ott.<\/p>\n
On the industrial front, the newly developed robotic prototype developed is transitioning into a commercial product. This prototype is set to offer a solution for agile transport tasks in hospitals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Could now assist hospital staff with everyday tasks, expanding their roles beyond typical functions like surgery or patient care, thanks to advances in their mobile and manipulation capabilities The demand for efficient, reliable and flexible automation in hospitals is crucial. Current systems only automate parts of hospital processes, creating \u2018islands of automation\u2019 that are limited\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_scj_primary_category_id":88,"_scj_featured":false,"_scj_featured_from":"","_scj_featured_until":"","_scj_featured_order":0,"_scj_visibility_class":"current","_scj_layout_family":"standard","_scj_article_style":"","_scj_display_overrides":[],"_scj_intro_image_id":19188,"_scj_intro_alt":"Assistive robots redefine routine hospital care","_scj_intro_caption":"","_scj_intro_class":"","_scj_intro_float":"","_scj_full_image_id":19188,"_scj_full_alt":"Assistive robots redefine routine hospital care","_scj_full_caption":"","_scj_full_class":"","_scj_full_float":"","_scj_media_type":"","_scj_media_provider":"","_scj_media_external_id":"","_scj_media_url":"","_scj_media_poster_id":0,"_scj_media_width":0,"_scj_media_height":0,"_scj_media_aspect_ratio":"","_scj_media_description":"","_scj_gallery_items":[],"_scj_related_post_ids":[],"_scj_additional_authors":[],"scj_layout_family":"standard","scj_media_provider":"","scj_media_url":"","scj_full_caption":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smart-health"],"yoast_head":"\n