Study on the biped walking pet robot with short legs (Development of the biped walking pet robot with a stuffed bear)

Abstract

The aging population and the ratio of 65 years old or more increase rapidly at time when the baby boom generation and baby boomers enter the aging population, receive lower birthrates afterwards, and increase gradually in recent years. In addition, the number of elderly person single homes increases aging. The animal therapy from which a physiological effect, a psychological effect, and a social effect have been achieved as the solution for these problems is paid attention to. On the other hand, it might be difficult to keep the animal from the problem of pet care, the allergy, and the infectious disease in the hospital and senior citizen's facilities. In this study, we focus on the pet robot in substitution for the pet animal. First of all, to decide externals of the pet robot liked by the senior citizen, it proposed the solution of the problem of the pet robot. It paid attention to "Fabulous animal and character" as a form that filled the solution, and externals of the pet robot that developed were assumed to be "Characterized bear of biped walking type as prettily". Then, the mechanism of four joints was developed by two one foot joints and both feet. The joint of the upper-body arranged three joints in the waist, and arranged four joints in the right hand by two joints and both arms, and arranged two joints as a neck and a head aiming at the improvement of communications. The bear of biped walking type with a short leg liked by the senior citizen was designed, produced, the questionnaire survey with a real machine was executed, and the effect of healing that the pet robot that was developed gave the senior citizen was verified.

Keywords

• pet robot
• biped walking
• stuffed bear
• animal therapy
• human interface