Elderly Bodily Assistance Robot (E-BAR): A Robot System for Body-Weight Support, Ambulation Assistance, and Fall Catching, Without the Use of a Harness
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E_BAR_paper__ICRA_2025___4_ (1).pdf
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Author(s)
Bolli, Roberto
Asada, Harry
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Citation
Bolli, Roberto and Asada, Harry. "Elderly Bodily Assistance Robot (E-BAR): A Robot System for Body-Weight Support, Ambulation Assistance, and Fall Catching, Without the Use of a Harness."
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
As over 11,000 people turn 65 each day in the
U.S., our country, like many others, is facing growing challenges
in caring for elderly persons, further exacerbated by a major
shortfall of care workers. To address this, we introduce an eldercare robot (E-BAR) capable of lifting a human body, assisting
with postural changes/ambulation, and catching a user during a
fall, all without the use of any wearable device or harness. Our
robot is the first to integrate these 3 tasks, and is capable of
lifting the full weight of a human outside of the robot’s base of
support (across gaps and obstacles). In developing E-BAR, we
interviewed nurses and care professionals and conducted userexperience tests with elderly persons. Based on their functional
requirements, the design parameters were optimized using a
computational model and trade-off analysis. We developed a
novel 18-bar linkage to lift a person from a floor to a standing
position along a natural trajectory, while providing maximal
mechanical advantage at key points. An omnidirectional, nonholonomic drive base, in which the wheels could be oriented to
passively maximize floor grip, enabled the robot to resist lateral
forces without active compensation. With a minimum width of
38 cm, the robot’s small footprint allowed it to navigate the
typical home environment. Four airbags were used to catch
and stabilize a user during a fall in ≤ 250 ms. We demonstrate
E-BAR’s utility in multiple typical home scenarios, including
getting into/out of a bathtub, bending to reach for objects, sitto-stand transitions, and ambulation.
Description
2025 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation, 19–23 May, Atlanta, USA
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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