Robot helps to get MS sufferer back to work

摘要

An innovative robot design is helping MS sufferer Lena Kredel to participate in working life again, enabling her to work independently. And her feedback is also making an important contribution to optimising the robot. Lena Kredel suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS). She cannot move her arms and legs, but nevertheless she is working. The literary scholar comes from Bad Segeberg, Germany, and is undertaking an apprenticeship as a librarian at the University of Bremen. Lena is using a service robot 'FRIEND' and its Schunk lightweight arm as a tool to support everyday tasks to allow autonomous environmental interaction. Now, the robot specialists from the Institute for Automation Technology (IAT) Bremen have modified the mechatronic helper so that Lena can independently catalogue the books in the university's library.