Telepresence robots have been recently used for
Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA). Since the robot
can not track a person continuously, there are several strategies
to decide when to check them, from cyclic checks to simple
requests from users and/or caregivers. In order to adapt to the
user needs and condition, it is preferable to perform CGA as
soon as regularities appear. However, this requires detection
of potential issues in users to offer immediate service. In this
work we propose a new low cost force sensor system to detect
user’s condition and attract attention of CGA robots, so they
can perform a full examination on a need basis. The main
advantages of this system are: i) it can be attached to any
standard commercial cane; ii) its power consumption is very
reduced; and iii) it provides continuous information as long as
the user walks. It has been tested with several elderly volunteers
in care facilities. Results have proven that the sensor readings
are indeed correlated with the users’ condition.
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