Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Scenario 14.
Assistant Robot
José is 62 years old. He is an electronic technician and works in the Repairs Office of a company that makes
microwave ovens.
His business has adopted the AAL approach for organizing documents, goods and working activities:
its environment is full of sensors that constantly monitor and recognize the positions of workers, documents
and objects. A smart assistant robot has also been adopted for moving objects.
José has two workstations available to him: one with a PC and the other with mechanical and electrical
tools to work on microwave ovens that are sent to him for repair. The tools include an electric soldering
iron, screwdrivers and an oscilloscope
When a broken oven arrives at the warehouse, a message is sent to José and he calls the smart assistant
robot to move the system from the warehouse to his office.
Thanks to sensors set on the smart assistant robot and in its surroundings, the robot is able to move
safely around in the company space, recognizing the presence of people and avoiding any obstacles in its
path.
When the robot arrives in José's office, he sets up a code for the object to be taken: the robot examines
wirelessly the core server of the AAL environment to find out the actual position of the broken oven. With
this information, the assistant robot moves to a certain location, and uses its robotic arms to grasp the oven
and take it back to José's office with the system to be repaired, leaving it on his workstation.
In order to repair the system, José needs to mend the electric circuits so asks the robot to recover the
dossier from the archives (which is at the last set of stairs of the building), setting its code.
The robot moves to the archives; the smart filing cabinet recognizes the presence of the robot, issues
the request for the dossier and provides the file to the robot. The robot then comes back to José: he can now
work and repair the oven.
When José finishes his work, he instructs the assistant robot to move the microwave oven from his
office to the warehouse in order for it to be sent back to its owners.
Technological challenges
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Smart assistant robot with autonomous navigation.
4.6. Prevention of diseases and injuries
The preservation of health is one of the most important rights that workers expect to be
upheld. Every kind of work has its own set of risk factors that can affect the health of
employees and potentially lead to the onset of particular diseases. For example, jobs
carried out at video terminal (computer, monitors, etc.) often cause workers to have
problems in their sight, arm and hand joints, or back and blood disorders. Manual work
that involves the movement of heavy loads can lead to the worsening of hernias,
problems to joints and bones, muscular diseases; tasks carried out in noisy
environments cause problems to hearing.
To avoid such injuries or disease workers should work in the best and safest
conditions, using convenient instruments and carrying out periodical checks to
determine their state of health.
Unfortunately, these preventive actions are not always carried out properly
(because of costs related to prevention systems and actions, oversight or carelessness)
and this causes damages both to employees' health and also to the welfare of the
companies and institutions involved.
In order to protect all workers - healthy, elderly and people with limitations -
specific, effective and up-to-date prevention plans should be developed by each firm
and office and countries should control the implementation of these plans.
