Trends in service robots for the disabled and the elderly

This paper reviews the state of the art in service robots for the disabled and the elderly people. The classification is based upon system hardware configurations. Key R&D issues in the field of service robots for the disabled and elderly are discussed. The ISAC-HERO system being developed at the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Vanderbilt University is presented as an example of an intelligent robotic aid system. Then emerging trends in the areas of user interface, learning and adaptation are presented.>