Germany, one of the most populated nations in Europe, has one of the world’s rapidly aging societies. Thus there is a growing lack of healthcare workers in the country. Researchers are working swiftly to create robots that can replace some of the jobs currently carried out by nurses, carers, and doctors since the number of people needing care is rising quickly and there will likely be 670,000 vacant carer positions in Germany by 2050.
In an effort to tackle the issue, The Technical University of Munich has created the robot Garmi.The objective of Garmi is to serve as an elderly person’s robotic assistant. Garmi is a  humanoid robot that assists senior citizens with regular tasks like cleaning. It may even help the doctor in the early stages of a telemedicine-based doctor visit, as well as physically support a patient during rehabilitation exercises.Â
The doctor gets access to pertinent health data through the usage of IoT sensors, together with measuring devices like ECG, sphygmomanometer, and ultrasound, which are equipped with robot. This allows the doctor to act quickly in emergency situations.
Moreover, the device might provide a more individualized service at home or at a care facility, such as preparing meals, opening bottles of water, phoning for assistance in case of a fall, or scheduling a video conversation with family members.
The Anatomy of Robots: A Closer Look at Their Physical Features
How does the robot look like?
The white humanoid “Garmi” appears to be a typical robot and is standing on a platform with wheels and has a black screen with two blue circles attached to it to serve as its eyes. But, 78-year-old retired doctor Guenter Steinebach from Germany commented, “For me, this robot is a dream.”
Garmi has a distinctive humanoid design which includes a sensor-equipped multi-modal head created for realistic human-machine communication and a whole-body torque-control interface for secure physical human-machine contact.
Garmi is the first mobile humanoid with customized use-inspired avatar stations. Avatar stations like MUCKI AND PARTI are utilized in the construction of Garmi. MUCKI for transparent remote doctor-patient contact with both audiovisual and secure haptic feedback, and PARTI for dual-arm based exoskeleton-like remote control with force feedback.The particular software architecture enables rapid prototyping and field testing of new characteristics for telemedicine, multi-modal interaction, and autonomous service aid.
The field of geriatronics, which applies cutting-edge robotics, IT, and 3D technology to geriatrics and gerontology is where Garmi originated. With the help of physicians like Steinebach, a group of approximately a dozen scientists at the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence developed Garmi.In addition to diagnosing patients, Garmi is also capable of caring for and treating them.
Abdeldjallil Naceri, the principal researcher of the project said that we have ATMs where we can get cash today. We can imagine that one day, based on the same model, people can come to get their medical examination in a kind of technology hub.
Every nook and cranny of the planet is seeing a significant increase in the population of elderly people. The unfortunate reality is that most of the time, elderly people are not cared for. As a result, if successful, this project will mark a major step forward for both Germans and the rest of the globe.
