Japan robot offers nursing support

Researchers in Japan unveiled a robot that can lift a patient weighing up to 80kg off the floor and onto a wheelchair, reports Reuters.

An innovation they say will free healthcare workers from the backbreaking task.

In elderly facilities in Japan, where rapid ageing of its society is expected to weigh on the economy, staff are required to lift residents from the floor onto a wheelchair about 40 times a day, a task that is both difficult and energy consuming.

The robot is nicknamed RIBA 2, and is soft to the touch, moves around on wheels and responds to voice commands, writes Robotics Wire.

It's built with rubber sensors, springs and improved joints at its base and lower back. “It can pick a person up from the floor onto a wheelchair or a bed,” says Shijie Guo, leader of the Robot Implementation Research Team.

According to ZDNet, the team is to partner with nursing care facilities to test RIBA 2 and further tailor it to the needs of caregivers and their patients. They will also develop new applications in areas such as rehabilitation and take steps toward commercialisation.

With an elderly population in need of nursing care projected to reach a staggering 5.69 million by 2015, Japan faces an urgent need for new approaches to assist care-giving personnel, giving RIBA 2, and robots like it a promising future.