AIST

National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology

Project to Promote the Development and Introduction ofRobotic Devices for
Nursing Care

The Development of Robotic Equipment
for Nursing Care has begun.
What if we could better help nursing care recipients be independent?
And what if we could better reduce their caregivers’ workload?
As Japan’s society grows older, efforts to find answers to thesequestions must be accelerated.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has initiated the Project to Promote the Development and Introductionof Robotic Devices for Nursing Care to address this need. The
project’s aims are to support and promote the development,
practical application, and introduction of robotic care equipment, and to create an environment for the preparation ofstandards necessary to introduce robotic equipment into nursing care settings.
After launching the project in 2013, METI later entrusted it
to the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development(AMED), a funding body that was established in 2015. Organically linking medical care and technology, the project continues to pursue developmental advancements that will supplement people’s natural abilities.
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Anechoic chamber (Robot Safety Center)

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The Project to Promote the Development andIntroduction of Robotic Devices for Nursing Careis comprised of two schemes.
1. “Development Subsidies”
This scheme provides subsidies to private enterprises that desire develop products in priority areas.
Its purpose is to encourage the development
and practical application of robotic care equipment.

2. “Standards Establishment and Evaluation”
This scheme publicizes the introduction of robotic care equipment into nursing care home, newnursing care programs that make use of related technologies,
research on demonstration guidelines and standardization,and development and introduction guidelines.

Subsidies
METI

Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)

Outsourcing

Standards Formulation and Evaluation(Representative: Hirohisa Hirukawa)

National Institute of Advanced
Industrial Science and Technology(AIST)→Japan Quality Assurance
Organization (JQA)
Aichi Medical University
Applied Vision Systems (AVS)Japan Automobile Research
SupportInstitute (JARI)
National Institute of Occupational
Safety and Health, Japan
Nagoya University
Japan Assistive Products Evaluation
Center (JASPEC)Japan Robot Association (JARA)
Japan Assistive Products Association(JASPA)

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Measurement display in an EMC test area

Subsidies

Wearable transfer aids
Non-wearable transfer aidsOutdoor mobility aids
Indoor mobility aids
Toileting aids
Bathing aids
Monitoring systems for nursing care homes
Monitoring systems for private homes04

The process of developing robotic care equipment is unique in that it
stresses not only conventional “system design”-i.e., design verifica-

New service design basedon basic concepts
Clarification of subjects in daily life

Verification in activities thatare being done

“Clarification of activities” to be
the objectives

Verification in activities
that can be done

Clarification of elemental motions

Requirements definition

Verification inelemental motionsRelationshipwith humans
EngineeringsystemApplicability confirmation

tion that begins with the engineering system-but also “service design,” which is design verification that begins with the relationship withhuman beings.

System verification

System design
Conventional
machine systems
designHardware/software design
Modularization design

Hardware/software
testing
Modular testing

Prototype production

05※1 “Activities” as specific targets for“participation”※2 Items and specific content※3 Requirements for effectivenessand safety-related functions
Requirements for effectivenessand safety-related performance※4 Mechanical and control
components
Safety-related components※5 - Merits and demerits
Short-term/long-term
Nursing care recievers/givers,
facilities as a whole- Adaptation and contraindications- Usage

Attention to safety at all development stages

A V-model for developing robotic
care equipment based on conceptsof the project06

Development with priority
on safety
Accelerating the development of robotic care equipment and achievingcare that improves people’s abilities requires strict and repeated safety
verification from various angles.
AMED assists equipment developers by making available to them a fullarray of safety verification facilities and devices capable of obtaining
more precise data. This includes giving them opportunities to conduct
the various kinds of simulation and testing that are needed during development with robots developed to avoid putting strain on actual humanbodies.

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Dummy robot

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Awareness of problems in theconventional process of nursing
care robot development gave birth
to an important new mind-set.
The development and efficacy verification of robotic care equipment
has traditionally involved “first making a device and then verifying its
effectiveness in actual use settings.” However, such an approach is inadequate if the goal is effective equipment development.
Consequently, our first concern is to clarify the objective-specifically,
how to make a robot that benefits “people”-and then to set about
designing and producing a robot that achieves it. From there, the task is
to substantiate the robot’s effectiveness through the results of efficacy
and safety verifications.
This process serves as an important mind-set in R&D for robotic careequipment that benefits people.

SupportDevelopment

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Know-how

Measurement display for a humanoid robot used in testing

10Basic guidelines for the development of robotic care equipment
Although research and development for nursing care robots has gained
considerable momentum in recent years, putting those robots into practical use is still a work in progress.
The Project to Promote the Development and Introduction of Robotic
Devices for Nursing Care is an undertaking toward achieving this aim.
AMED has established the following two points as basic guidelines in thedevelopment of practical robotic care equipment.

Basic Guideline 1:
View the purpose and effects of robotic care equipment
in terms of its impact on “people.”
Do not simply pursue mechanical performance.
Develop and apply nursing care robots with the clear objective of “making people’s livesbetter.”

Basic Guideline 2:
View robotic care equipment as a physical means of providing “nursing care that brings improvement.”
Nursing care robots are not to be a means for compensating for disability.
They are to be positioned within overall nursing care programs that are developed withfocus on an interactive relationship with human-provided nursing care.

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Humanoid robot for testing12

Eight priority development areas
A component of the Japan Revitalization Strategy that received Cabinet approval

The ministries reexamined the demand for robotic technologies in nursing care in 2014

in 2013 is a “five-year plan for developing nursing care robots.”and subsequently revised the priority areas in order to response to needs in in-home

The plan calls for strategic steps toward the development and introduction ofnursing care and dementia care.

robotic care equipment. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Min-The following points are provided as basic guidelines and safety considerations for theistry of Health, Labour and Welfare responded by establishing “Priority Areas

development of robotic care equipment in each priority area.
Measurement device in an EMC test area

where Robotic Technology is to be Introduced in Nursing Care of the Elderly.”

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Wearable transfer aids

Non-wearable transfer aids

Toileting aids

Bathing aids

Wearable devices using robot technology
to provide power assistance to caregivers

Non-wearable devices using robot technology providing power assistance to caregivers in
lifting care receivers

Adjustable-position toilets using robot technology for treating excrement

Devices using robot technology to support elderly
people in the series of motions required for getting
in and out of bathOutdoor mobility aids

Indoor mobility aids

Walking-aid devices using robot technology
to support elderly people walking outdoors
and to secure safe carrying of loads

Walking-aid devices using robot technology
to support elderly people moving indoors,and sitting and standing; particularly assistingthem in getting to and from toilets and supporting their position in using the toilet.

Monitoring systems fornursing care homes

Monitoring systems for private
homes

Monitoring system platforms consisting ofdevices with sensors and external communication functions using robot technology, usedin nursing care facilities

Monitoring system platforms consisting of sensors
detecting when such people fall over and external
communication functions using robot technology,
used for home nursing care

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Two outstanding devices that help realize the project’s vision
Advancing into fields in which developers cannot succeed alone
Neos + CareNK Works Co., Ltd.

Robot Assist Walker RT.1
RT.WORKS Co., Ltd.

Neos + Care senses a person’s movements in threedimensions using an infrared sensor camera systeminstalled in his or her room. The system supports
appropriate nursing care by accumulating data in aserver, sounding an alarm when it detects a movement that could lead to a fall, and sending notices on
the person’s condition through portable devices. Because it uses infrared technology, it allows caregivers
to see the person’s condition with clear images, evenin the dark.

This robotic walker assists walking while judging conditions in the surrounding environment. All the user has
to do is put his or her hands on the handle bar. Thedevice supplies supplementary power when going uphill and automatically brakes when going downhill, thussafely assisting walking. It also provides peace of mind
to both the user and his or her family with an IoT technology-based monitoring service.
Robotic Care Equipment Development andIntroduction Project, METI

Mobility Aid Device for Nursing Care Homes
Robotic Care Equipment Development andIntroduction Project, METI

Monitoring Device for Nursing Care Homes

Certification ofDevice Excellence

Certification ofDevice Excellence

A word from the developer“We were able to accelerate the development of our robotic care device by safely acquiring simulation dataon the burdens placed on human bodies beforehand.”Dr. Yayoi Okawa, Medical Doctor, AIST
A word from the developer“We had access to facilities and equipment capable of performing the safety verifications and simulations we required.
This allowed us to link consideration for the individual to technology and to create a robotic care device with a designthat truly benefits people.”

15“Increasing ‘capability’ that allows the elderly to enjoy a sense of fulfillment can be described as the foundation of nursing care support. I anticipate that advancements that give people greater opportunity toparticipate in society, rather than suffer from decreasing abilities, will come with the progressing development of robotic care devices that ‘support’ monitoring and mobility and take on duties normally handled bycaregivers.”

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Making maximum useof human resources
Breathing life into
robotic technology

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Because their products are used by people,
developers must have access to sophisticated facilities
and environments for safety verification as well as expert
medical and engineering advice.
The future of innovative nursing care in Japan,
oriented toward long and healthy living, starts here.

Measurement device in an EMC test area18