Project Idea: Robot food maker and feeder
Problem:
There are various types of paralysis, some people are paralyzed from the neck down and are unable to move their four limbs, others may be paralyzed from the neck down but they may retain some movement in their arms. For those that’re paralyzed on all four limbs, it is extremely difficult or impossible for them to make food and feed themselves without the need of a care taker. In an interview with a quadriplegic by the name of Tracy, when asked how she can eat, she responds with:
“”That's easy, I eat with my mouth and chew my food with my teeth... just like you do!
But somebody has to feed me. Usually my care assistant is tasked with that job when I am at home. Otherwise, friends and family take over when I'm out with them.”” ~ Tracy
In the case of partial paralysis, these people may be able to feed themselves, but may be too limited to be able to make their own food. In a video blog by an quadriplegic with the alias “Professir X”, we can see that he can move his left arm. Although he is limited in the tactile movements of his hands, the ability to be able to rotate his wrists and arms is enough to allow him to feed himself.
Assistive Robot Idea:
My idea for an assistive robot is to create specially designed lunch boxes and hand clamps which allows the robot to automatically cook food and feed it to the quadriplegic person if needed. This robot will be based on the Fetch mobile manipulator robot because the arm is needed to prepare the food and feed it to the person.
Lunch Box:
The lunch box is designed such that it is microwaveable, have special handles which the robot can use to grab onto, have a lid that can be twisted and pulled off by the robot, and have a QR code in the front which can be used to identify what is in the lunch box.
The lunch boxes will be stored in the refrigerator to allow it to last a long time. This means that the care taker can prepare multiple lunch boxes across various days so the quadriplegic can prepare their own food using the robot without the need of the care taker.
Below is a sketch of the lunchbox by me.
QR Code:
The QR code on the lunch box is synced to a database that the robot has access to. The care taker or food preparer can manually input information about each lunchbox and link it in the QR code database. This QR code can then be scanned by the robot and be used to identify what foods are in each lunch box, how long the foods should be microwaved for, how long should the food cool down after microwaving, whether the food requires a spoon or a fork, and any other information.
Here’s how I imagine the scenario going for this system:
The user tells the robot what food they want.
The robot checks in it’s database for the food, if it exists it will go to the refrigerator and look for the lunch box with the correct food by scanning the QR codes.
The robot takes the lunch box to a microwave and microwaves it.
How does it know how long to microwave for?
By using the QR code! The linked information will contain how long the lunch box should be microwaved for as well as how long to wait for the lunch box to cooldown before it can be eaten.
After microwaving the lunch box, the robot will take the lunch box out and wait for it to cooldown. Afterwards, it will open the lid using the twist and unlock mechanism.
The food is then taken to some kind of food eating station where the user can choose to have the robot feed the food to them, or manually eat the food themselves.
If the user wants the robot to feed the food to them, the robot will use a spoon or fork specially designed for it’s clamp in order to feed the food.
The information linked to the QR code tells the robot whether to use a spoon or fork.
Why is this system good?
The care taker can prepare the food beforehand which allows the quadriplegic to eat the food whenever they want.
The quadriplegic will be more independent because they don’t have to rely on a care taker for this necessity.
Mapping information to the QR code is a great way to specify different parameters in how the robot is suppose to prepare the food, so this is a pretty great general method.
This system is better than robots that ONLY feed people because it can also prepare the food itself.
What’re some cons of the system?
There are many types of food with different textures and sizes. This means the feeding mechanism will be harder to generalize. For example, spaghetti needs a fork in order to eat while rice needs a spoon. The method in which the robot picks up the food from the lunch box may differ from food to food. This could partially handled depending on how the food preparer cuts up/prepares the food.
Lots of points of contact and steps, which increase the points of failure for a system that is suppose to be able to run by itself continuously.
The robot is big and there may not be enough space for it in the user’s home.
Source 1: https://www.w24.co.za/Wellness/Mind/10-things-youd-never-ask-20131126-2
Source 2: https://youtu.be/QUGcwz1KHOs?t=781