SMOOTH Robot: Design for a Novel Modular Welfare Robot Demographic change is expected to challenge many societies in the next few decades if todaysxe2x80x99 standards of services in e.g. elder care shall be maintained. Robots are considered to at least partially mitigate this challenge, however, robots are rarely applied in the welfare domain. This paper describes the development of a concept for a novel welfare robot that is modular and affordable. The development is based on a participatory design process and by taking strengths and limitations of selected, commercially available robots into account. This work contributes a design methodology specific for welfare robots and a resulting robot concept that address three use cases in a care center. The concept includes multimodal robot perception that facilitates a proactive robot behavior for achieving smooth interactions with endusers.

A Systematic Review of Robotics Research in Support of InHome Care for Older Adults The aging population is growing at an unprecedented rate globally and roboticsenabled solutions are being developed to provide better independent living for older adults. In this study, we report the results from a systematic review of the stateoftheart in home robotics research for caring for older adults. This review aims to address two questions: (1) What research is being done towards integrating robotics for caring for older adults? (2) What are the research and technology challenges that robots are facing in the home? Sixtythree papers have been identified and studied in this review by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Common themes that are consistent across the reviewed papers are distinguished and consolidated as follows: (1) Ambient assisted living, where smart home environments and physical support tools are studied; (2) Robot ecosystem, where robotic devices are used to provide various services; (3) Social interaction, where the social isolation problem has been targeted. We also summarize the results of similar literature reviews we came across during our search. The results of this study present the current research trends and technologies used in each category. The challenges and limitations of robotics applications are also identified. Suggestions for accelerating the deployment of robots at home for providing older adults with independent care in the home are presented based on the results and insights from this study.