Table 10.
Summary of research works that use ambient sensors in mobile robotics.
| Robot | Characteristics | Ambient Sensors |
|---|---|---|
| AIBO [145] (2008) | It is a dog-like robot that is capable of facial expressions. The companion robot can display how it feels through six emotional states: happiness, dislike, anger, love, sadness, and surprise. It has touch sensors on the head, chin, and back. Stereo microphones allow it to hear. The camera helps it to see and balance. It also uses infrared, acceleration, and temperature sensors to adapt to its surroundings. | Touch sensors, video camera, distance sensor, microphone, temperature sensor. |
| AILISA [146] (2005) | It is a machine-like robot. It provides mobility aid, physiological monitoring, and fall monitoring. | Motion sensors, wireless weight scale sensors. |
| Cafero [147] | It is machine-like robot that provides helps with monitoring and recording vital signs, telepresence, cognitive training, entertainment and reminiscence, and scheduling activities. | Infrared sensor, camera sensor, laser range finder, sonar sensors. |
| Care-O-bot [148] (2009) | It is a human-like robot. It provides aid with walking with navigation, fetching objects, security, monitoring health and personal safety, cleaning tasks, heating food, telepresence, and medication reminders. | 3-D time of flight cameras, stereo camera, microphone sensor on robot head, tactile sensors on robot hand |
| GiraffPlus [149] (2014) | It is a machine-like robot with a touchscreen interface. It allows remote people (i.e., caregivers, family, and friends) to virtually visit an elderly person’s home, move the robot about freely, and communicate with the elderly person through video conferencing technology. | Passive infrared detector, electrical usage sensor, a pressure sensor (bed/sofa/chair), accelerometer sensor, physiological sensors (e.g., body weight, blood pressure, pulse rate). |
| Hector [150] (2013) | It is a machine-like robot with a touchscreen interface. It provides aids for recording daily routines, controlling the environment, cognitive training, reminding to take medication, reviewing of daily agendas, detecting falls, and providing help during emergency. | Kinect depth camera, web camera, fisheye camera, microphone, IR motion sensor. |
| Act [151] (2008) | It is a cat-like robot. Through a camera, it can recognize objects and faces. Microphones in it can recognize speech and the direction of the sound source. It can also sense touch through its touch sensors. | Video camera, touch sensor, microphone. |
| NeCoRo [152] (2005) | It is a cat-like fluffy robot. The tactile sensors in its head, chin, and back can sense a stroking or patting. A microphone in its head can detect sound and the source of the sound. A camera helps it avoid obstacles. An acceleration sensor helps it recognize its position while spinning around. | Video camera, touch sensor, microphone, tactile sensor, position sensor, vision light sensor. |
| Paro [153] (2016) | It is a seal-like fluffy robot that is capable of facial expressions. It can provide company to elderly people who are living alone. It can perceive its environment with the help of five types of sensors: temperature, tactile, light, sound, and posture sensors. Light sensors help it to recognize light and dark. Tactile sensors help it feel when it is being stroked or beaten. Posture sensors help it sense when it is being held. Sound sensors help it perceive the directions of voices and words. | Light sensor, auditory (determination of sound source direction and speech recognition) sensor, balance sensor, tactile sensor. |
| Pearl [154] (2002) | It is a human-like robot with a head that is capable of facial expressions. It aids in the reminding of daily agendas, guiding around the home, reminding of appointments, telepresence, monitoring of health, and opening or closing the refrigerator. | Navigation sensors that use a laser range- finder, sonar sensors, microphones for speech recognition, stereo camera systems. |
| Ri-man [155] (2007) | It is a human-like machine. It aids in lifting and carrying people. | Tactile sensors |
| MOVAID [156] (2007) | It is machine-like robot with no head and approximately two meters tall. The robot was designed for heating/delivering food, changing bed linen, kitchen bench cleaning. | Ultrasound, force, camera, local positioning, laser, infrared, and tilt sensors. |
| Guido [157] (2005) | It is a machine with the height of around one meter. This robot basically aids for walking and navigation. | Force, local positioning, and laser sensor. |
| HOMIE [158] (2005) | This robot is a dog-like robot which was designed to give company to the elderly people. It can show some emotions and also, provide entertainment and medical attendance services. | Microphone, pressure, and motion sensors. |
| Wakamaru [159] (2006) | It is a human-like robot where the head of the robot can perform some facial expressions. The functions of the robot include security, managing schedules, information service, face recognition, conversation, medication reminder, and reporting unusual situations. | Camera, ultrasonic, bumper, microphone, and step detection sensors. |
| IRobiQ [160] (2010) | It is human-like Korean robot with a static face. The height of the robot is approximately 0.3 m. The robot helps the users with medication reminders, cognitive training, entertainment, telepresence communication, and vital signs monitoring. | Touch screen, microphone, infrared sensor, ultrasonic, and camera sensors. |
| Ifbot [161] (2004) | It is human-like robot with a static face and height of approximately 0.3 m. The robot was designed for entertainment purposes, cognitive training, and basic health monitoring. | Ultrasonic, infrared, camera, microphone, touch, and shock sensors. |
| Teddy [162] (2011) | It is a bear-like companion robot which can show different kinds of emotions via facial expressions. | Touch, microphone, and camera sensors. |
| Huggable [163] (2006) | It is bear-like companion robot that shows some facial expressions. The simple robot can give and receive hugs. To create a sensitive skin of the robot, more than 1000 touch sensors are underneath the skin of the robot. | Cameras, touch, force, and micophone sensors. |
| iCat [164] (2018) | It is cat-like companion robot with some facial expressions. The height of the robot is approximately 0.4 m. | Camera, microphone, and touch sensors. |