As technology continues to evolve, every day we see new inventions. Today we will talk about, How Machines and Robots Help Humans being with Disabilities. In this day and age, Machines and Robots are practically everywhere. From your house to the outside of the World. Scientists of Robotics have discovered a couple of ways of helping people with disabilities. Until now we could see a lot of techs used in movies for enhancing one’s physical or mental ability.
Of course, there were real-life equipment and prototypes too but they were just too expensive for us to afford. However, research and modern-day technology and Machines have made it possible for a man to freely use technology which enhances one’s ability.
Robots and Machines are Improving the Lives of the Disabled?
Robots are improving the lives of people. Kids with Autism to the people who are paralyzed. Robots are basically there for them. Which makes Robots happy revolution in our lives. Now, let’s see how much robots are helping people with special needs.
IEEE Developed Machine
For the past couple of decades, wheelchairs have come a long long way. There were many types of wheelchairs. Mechanical or Electronic, even in the past. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has developed technology which helps the disabled people and the Robots they made are a multi Terrain. This means that technology can go into a different environment but that doesn’t mean that it’s fully perfect.
It contains the following features:
- Lighter
- Camera
- GPS
It also has an Inbuilt Artificial Intelligence feature along with the technique called Mapping. When Robot moves around it creates a 3D environment and it analyzes the situation it’s in. So it knows where are difficult parts and how to deal with them. It also has a feature to transform itself accordingly to the situation it’s in. The usage of Robots is handy and fairly easy to use. It contains the following components:
- Joystick
- Tablet
A joystick is used to control the Wheelchair’s movement and using the tablet, you can see the current configuration of a wheelchair. It will be used quite a lot in the next 5-10 years according to Ming Liu from IEEE. This latest technology still has a long way to go. There are many challenges to overcome in the near future. The biggest one is that society needs to accept the health care Robots, In the sense that Humans can actually co-exist with the human system.
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Milo, The Machine
Milo the Robot. It looks a lot like Chucky from Child’s play. But he’s not destructive. It’s Milo. The Machine Robot Designed for Children with Autism. People with Autism disease have difficulty in language learning and creative plays and social life. 1 in 59 American children has autism.
According to this report from Autism Speaks, 1 in 59 people has autism. The purpose of Milo is to help kids with autism. Autistic people are pretty sensitive to the world around them.
Milo is pretty consistent and calm which makes him perfect for handling children with autism. It contains features from games to counting and emotional exercises. Milo is pretty reliable and he also contains touch senses. Milo also has a feature face expression too which makes him feel a bit more natural. It also asks the user of Autism a quiz by showing them face expressions and asking them what expression it is. Milo speaks 82 percent of the normal human speed, which is pretty impressive as a lot of children with autism have problems in speech recognition.
Autism is a hot topic in this era. We don’t know why it’s on the rise. But on the other hand, there is a lot of solution through which we can at least control it somewhat. Milo is one of them.
Bionic Arms
Bionic arms are used by people who have either lost their arms or were born with this disability. When a human discovers a tool, he discovers it so that it’ll make his life easier. The whole way of living changes alone with that tool. Bionic arms were introduced but they were pretty expensive. In this modern era. It’s not a problem anymore. Hero arm machine was introduced by Open bionics.
Hero Arm
Powered with space grade motors and advance software technology but hero arm still is super sleek and light-weighted. It comes with three sizes. Additionally, it’s able to lift up to 8 KG of weight. The hero’s arm has swappable covers and you can change the color to feel what vibe you want it to be. For example, if you want to be an Iron man or any mother marvel character. Customization is endless and here are some of the key features.
- Controlled by your Muscles
- Hand, socket and frame, all in one arm
- Easily Cleanable
- Compressible and Expandable
- Freeze mode, meaning it can be static at one point.
- Light, Sound and vibrations, definitely a full suite of tools.
- Affordable prices, as well as awesome features
Assistive Machine for Blind Travelers
Imagine a world so warm and so cold without your eyes on it. People who can’t see, what do they see? How do they live? In a never-ending state of panic and darkness. They have the most difficulty in traveling. First, let’s talk about Assistive Robot technology. Many people can’t see it. As a result, they try to find dogs so that they’ll get helped by a dog sniffing out the obstacles. As far as I know, dogs cannot read text or schedules of the next bus. Stuff like this can be only readable by humans as dogs don’t know our languages. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are developing solutions to this though.
The name of the proposed project is BAXTER THE ROBOT.
Baxter the Machine
Baxter is a more improved version of a Manipulator type Robot. While other manipulator type Robots are not safe to be anywhere near human reach but Baxter is specifically designed to be inhuman presence. Humans and Baxter can work in the same environment, moreover coexisting with each other. You can even touch it and move it around which basically you can do to make it perform a certain task.
Baxter contains two arms with 7 degrees of freedom in conclusion, as flexible as a human arm and therefore, if an object is in its reach, it can pick up anything. As long as it’s within reach. Here are some of Baxter’s features
- Software Control
- Sensors and Emergency stop Function
- Lightweight
- Baxter will slow down if there’s power loss
- Human Awareness
Final Thoughts on these Machines
Now, my final thoughts about this topic are that we should support and actually be mentally prepared that Robots are going to be freely moving with a human. Coexisting as helping machines with humans therefore, in some harsh words I’d say that Robots are slaves of us humans. Society should accept as well as, support the concept of this coexistence as it’s advancement and evolution of human beings. In fact, in many advanced areas like America, people have already accepted the use of Robots.
In addition to all this, I myself cannot wait for this type of evolution in our world. For example, proper Robots like in movies. Real Steel type of stuff. Obviously not Transformers though.
Disabled people should have carers or so I mean Robots for them. Even in a movie called Robot and Frank, Frank had a robot that helped him in doing all sorts of stuff. Japan is always one step ahead of the world and therefore, developing already. Robear is the technology Japan is developing.
In addition to all this, robot carers are better than Human carers as they don’t get tired and you don’t have to pay them. It’s a one-time investment and you’re ready to go. The initial investment might be a lot but you won’t have to take the hassle of actually paying them every month or day.
Not to mention that you can program the Robot in any way possible you can. Rather than a human who is good at a certain niche Robots are customizable and they can be customized in many ways.
Conclusion on Robotic Machines
In conclusion to all this, Machines may not be able to actually completely replicate human beings. As some people have a deep relationship with their carer and Machines cannot provide that sort of companionship to the carer. A Robot carer cannot interact and speak like human beings so it’s just that, they cannot actually obliterate human carers of course. And they wouldn’t be as much fun as human carers actually are.
At the very end of this topic, I will still say that Robots are what will make our world a better place and we should appreciate this technology.
