Healthcare Robots by Aimee van Wynsberghe

Author:Aimee van Wynsberghe [Wynsberghe, Aimee van]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781032098609
Google: Xw5nzgEACAAJ
Amazon: B00XCR34XI
Barnesnoble: B00XCR34XI
Goodreads: 25950000
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2021-06-30T00:00:00+00:00

Type of Robot as a Component

As we saw in the last chapters, defining and classifying robots is quite complicated given the range of capabilities. Some consider a type of robot according to the domain for which it is used; industrial vs. rehabilitation vs. military vs. search and rescue robots (Veruggio, 2006). For others, types of robots may be in terms of industrial robots vs. service robots. Service robotics are then further distinguished according to personal service robots (e.g. pet robot or automated wheelchair) and professional service robots (e.g. delivery robot in hospitals) (International Federation of Robotics).1 A distinction between industrial and service robot has to do with the amount of human interaction the robot will have and the predictability or structuring of the environment that the robot is working.

For the purposes of the framework discussed here, I classify ‘type of robot’ with how the robot will be used among the human actors – how a role and responsibility is delegated to a robot. For example, an enabling robot is one which enables a human to perform an action previously not possible without the robot or, the robot enhances the human’s performance during a task – the robot and human are working together toward a goal but the human is in control of both him/herself as well as the robot. Thus, the responsibility for accomplishing that role is a shared effort with the robot perceived in an instrumentalist way, as a tool. Robots of this type are: tele-presence robots like the RP7, surgical robots like Intuitive Surgical’s daVinci®, or exoskeletons like the Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL).

Next, a replacement robot: this robot is one that fulfils a practice in place of the human. The role of the human and the associated responsibilities are delegated fully to the robot. An example of this type of robot is the RI-MAN autonomous robot for lifting, Secom’s MySpoon automatic feeding robot (when programmed to fulfil all tasks of feeding), or the Sanyo electric bathtub robot that automatically washes and rinses.

Finally, an assistive robot: this is a robot that aids a human in performing an action by providing a portion of the practice without the direct input of a human operator and is thus delegated a partial role and a partial responsibility. This robot differs from an enabling robot in that it does not require consistent input from a human but rather can execute a practice once given its command. Examples of this kind of robot are: the TUG® or HelpMateTM robots used for deliveries in hospitals; the Mitsubishi Wakamaru robot for monitoring and delivering messages; or the Nao robot used for medication reminders (Anderson and Anderson, 2007). In the case of the delivery robots, the role and responsibility of the delivery is shared between the robot and the human deliverer/receiver; however, the robot fulfils many steps without any input from a human user (e.g. navigating through hallways and corridors).

In addition to the type of robot identified, it is important to list the robot’s capabilities as they too play a role in the ethical analysis.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.