INCARE

European Commission (EC) Active and Assisted Living Joint Programme (AAL JP) AAL-2017-059

INCARE

scientific project

Integrated Solution for Innovative Elderly Care

Start: October 2018
Finish: October 2021
Principal Investigator: Tomasz Winiarski,
Researchers: Maciej Bogusz, Krystian Chachuła, Wojciech Dudek, Maksym Figat, Daniel Giełdowski, Dawid Gruszczyński, Włodzimierz Kasprzak, Jarosław Karwowski, Bartłomiej Kozakiewicz, Jakub Sikora, Maciej Stefańczyk, Dawid Seredyński, Wojciech Szynkiewicz, Maciej Węgierek, Cezary Zieliński, Łukasz Zieliński,

The European population is ageing and tends to live longer and independently which requires them to have a good quality of life in their daily environment. It is time for the European Commission (EC) Active and Assisted Living Joint Programme (AAL JP) to integrate the technological solutions brought about by the national and European funding programs into viable products for sustainable elderly care. In this respect, there is a lack of complex but well integrated solutions that are intuitively usable, personalizable, and take into consideration the user’s life span dimension. The “Integrated Solution for Innovative Elderly Care” – INCARE project addresses precisely these aspects. Its main objective is to build upon two successful platforms (AAL-NITICS and FP7-RAPP) a new readily available product whose seamless operability and modularity are demonstrated in extensive end-user pilots that help its fast uptake by the market. We will start from previously validated user insights and will use a co-creation approach to tune the INCARE solution. Pilots carried out in four different countries, i.e. Poland, Slovenia, Romania and Hungary, will not only aid the development but will also bring evidence about the effectiveness of the INCARE solution. At larger scale, our aim is to increase awareness and strengthen the trust of primary, secondary and tertiary users (especially policy makers) in the positive effects and huge potential of high-tech AAL solutions, including realistic use of robotic platforms.

INCARE project at AAL portal
INCARE project official side

List of selected publications:

T. Indeka

Stolik wyposażony w czucie taktylne w zadaniach robota asystującego

Master’s thesis, IAiIS, 2024

Tutor: Tomasz Winiarski
[ BIB | URL ]

@mastersthesis{tindeka-msc-24-twiki,
  author = {Indeka, Tomasz},
  school = {WEiTI},
  title = {{Stolik wyposażony w czucie taktylne w zadaniach robota asystującego}},
  year = {2024},
  type = {Master's thesis},
  engtitle = {{Tactile sensing table in the tasks of an assistive robot}},
  lang = {pl},
  organization = {IAiIS},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  publisher = {IAiIS},
  tutor = {Tomasz Winiarski},
  twiki = {msc},
  url = {https://gitlab-stud.elka.pw.edu.pl/robotyka/rpmpg_pubs/-/raw/main/student-theses/tindeka-msc-24-twiki.pdf}
}

M. Skrzypkowski

Robot TIAGo w zadaniu patrolowania w celu odstraszania intruzów

Master’s thesis, IAiIS, 2024

Tutor: Tomasz Winiarski
[ BIB | URL ]

@mastersthesis{mskrzypkowski-msc-24-twiki,
  author = {Skrzypkowski, Marcin},
  school = {WEiTI},
  title = {{Robot TIAGo w zadaniu patrolowania w celu odstraszania intruzów}},
  year = {2024},
  type = {Master's thesis},
  engtitle = {{TIAGo as a patrolling robot in the task of deterring intruders}},
  lang = {pl},
  organization = {IAiIS},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  publisher = {IAiIS},
  tutor = {Tomasz Winiarski},
  twiki = {msc},
  url = {https://gitlab-stud.elka.pw.edu.pl/robotyka/rpmpg_pubs/-/raw/main/student-theses/mskrzypkowski-msc-24-twiki.pdf}
}

B. Kozakiewicz and T. Winiarski
Spring based on flat permanent magnets: design, analysis and use in variable stiffness actuator
Facta Universitatis, Series: Mechanical Engineering, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 101–120, 2023
[ BIB | DOI | abstract | URL ]
```
@article{kozakiewicz2021spring-twiki,
  author = {Kozakiewicz, Bartłomiej and Winiarski, Tomasz},
  journal = {Facta Universitatis, Series: Mechanical Engineering},
  title = {Spring based on flat permanent magnets: design, analysis and use in variable stiffness actuator},
  year = {2023},
  number = {1},
  pages = {101--120},
  volume = {21},
  doi = {10.22190/FUME210412055K},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  twiki = {journal},
  url = {http://casopisi.junis.ni.ac.rs/index.php/FUMechEng/article/view/6852}
}
```
Modern robot applications benefit from including variable stiffness actuators (VSA) in the kinematic chain. In this paper, we focus on VSA utilizing a magnetic spring made of two coaxial rings divided into alternately magnetized sections. The torque generated between the rings is opposite to the angular deflection from equilibrium and its value increases as the deflection grows – within a specific range of angles that we call a stable range. Beyond the stable range, the spring exhibits negative stiffness what causes problems with prediction and control. In order to avoid it, it is convenient to operate within a narrower range of angles that we call a safe range. The magnetic springs proposed so far utilize few pairs of arc magnets, and their safe ranges are significantly smaller than the stable ones. In order to broaden the safe range, we propose a different design of the magnetic spring, which is composed of flat magnets, as well as a new arrangement of VSA (called ATTRACTOR) utilizing the proposed spring. Correctness and usability of the concept are verified in FEM analyses and experiments performed on constructed VSA, which led to formulating models of the magnetic spring. The results show that choosing flat magnets over arc ones enables shaping spring characteristics in a way that broadens the safe range. An additional benefit is lowered cost, and the main disadvantage is a reduced maximal torque that the spring is capable of transmitting. The whole VSA can be perceived as promising construction for further development, miniaturization and possible application in modern robotic mechanisms.
K. Chachuła and M. Stefańczyk
The utilization of spherical camera in simulation for service robotics
arXiv:2103.09297, 2021
[ BIB | abstract | URL ]
```
@article{chachula-spherical-camera-21-twiki,
  author = {Chachuła, Krystian and Stefańczyk, Maciej},
  journal = {arXiv:2103.09297},
  title = {The utilization of spherical camera in simulation for service robotics},
  year = {2021},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  twiki = {article},
  url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2103.09297}
}
```
Safety is one of the most critical factors in robotics, especially when robots have to collaborate with people in a shared environment. Testing the physical systems, however, must focus on much more than just software. One of the common steps in robotic system development is the utilization of simulators, which are very good for tasks like navigation or manipulation. Testing vision systems is more challenging, as the simulated data often is far from the real camera readings. In this paper, we show the advantages of using the spherical camera for recording the sequences of test images and a way to integrate those with existing robotic simulator. The presented system also has the possibility to be extended with rendered objects to further improve its usability.
J. Karwowski, W. Dudek, M. Węgierek, and T. Winiarski
HuBeRo-a Framework to Simulate Human Behaviour in Robot Research
Journal of Automation, Mobile Robotics and Intelligent Systems, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 31–38, 2021
[ BIB | DOI | abstract ]
```
@article{karwowski2021hubero-twiki,
  title = {{HuBeRo-a Framework to Simulate Human Behaviour in Robot Research}},
  author = {Karwowski, Jarosław and Dudek, Wojciech and Węgierek, Maciej and Winiarski, Tomasz},
  journal = {Journal of Automation, Mobile Robotics and Intelligent Systems},
  volume = {15},
  number = {1},
  pages = {31--38},
  year = {2021},
  doi = {10.14313/JAMRIS/1-2021/4},
  projects = {aal-incare,EARL},
  twiki = {journal}
}
```
Social robots’ software is commonly tested in a simulation due to the safety and convenience reasons as well as an environment configuration repeatability assurance. An interaction between a robot and a human requires taking a person presence and his movement abilities into consideration. The purpose of the article is to present the HuBeRo framework, which can be used to simulate human motion behaviour. The framework allows independent control of each individual’s activity, which distinguishes the presented approach from state-of-the-art, opensource solutions from the robotics domain. The article presents the framework assumptions, architecture, and an exemplary application with respect to presented scenarios.

J. Sikora

Komunikacja głosowa z robotem społecznym Rico

Master’s thesis, IAiIS, 2021

Tutor: Tomasz Winiarski
[ BIB | URL ]

@mastersthesis{jsikora-msc-21-twiki,
  author = {Sikora, Jakub},
  school = {WEiTI},
  title = {{Komunikacja głosowa z robotem społecznym Rico}},
  engtitle = {{Voice communication with the social robot Rico}},
  year = {2021},
  type = {Master's thesis},
  lang = {pl},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  organization = {IAiIS},
  publisher = {IAiIS},
  tutor = {Tomasz Winiarski},
  twiki = {msc},
  url = {https://gitlab-stud.elka.pw.edu.pl/robotyka/rpmpg_pubs/-/raw/main/student-theses/jsikora-msc-21-twiki.pdf}
}

W. Dudek

Prudent management of interruptible tasks executed by a service robot

PhD thesis, Warsaw University of Technology, 2021

[ BIB | abstract | URL ]

@phdthesis{Dudek:2021_phd-twiki,
  author = {Dudek, Wojciech},
  school = {Warsaw University of Technology},
  title = {Prudent management of interruptible tasks executed by a service robot},
  year = {2021},
  lang = {en},
  owner = {wdudek},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  timestamp = {2021.05.18},
  twiki = {phd},
  url = {https://robotyka.ia.pw.edu.pl/papers/phd_thesis_wd.pdf}
}

D. Gruszczyński and M. Stefańczyk
Active fall prevention: robotic vision in AAL
arXiv:2103.09298, 2021
[ BIB | abstract | URL ]
```
@article{gruszczynski-active-fall-21-twiki,
  author = {Gruszczyński, Dawid and Stefańczyk, Maciej},
  journal = {arXiv:2103.09298},
  title = {Active fall prevention: robotic vision in AAL},
  year = {2021},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  twiki = {article},
  url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2103.09298}
}
```
Effective methods of preventing falls significantly improve the quality of life of the Elderly. Nowadays, people focus mainly on the proper provision of the apartment with handrails and fall detection systems once they have occurred. The article presents a system of active detection and classification of the risk of falls in the home space using a service robot equipped with a vision sensor. Hazard classification allows for effective performance of tasks assigned to the robot while maintaining a high level of user safety.

T. Indeka

Sztuczna skóra zastosowana w robotach asystujących

Bachelor’s thesis, IAiIS, 2021

Tutor: Tomasz Winiarski
[ BIB | URL ]

@mastersthesis{tindeka-bsc-21-twiki,
  author = {Indeka, Tomasz},
  school = {WEiTI},
  title = {{Sztuczna skóra zastosowana w robotach asystujących}},
  year = {2021},
  type = {Bachelor's thesis},
  lang = {pl},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  organization = {IAiIS},
  publisher = {IAiIS},
  tutor = {Tomasz Winiarski},
  twiki = {bsc},
  url = {https://gitlab-stud.elka.pw.edu.pl/robotyka/rpmpg_pubs/-/raw/main/student-theses/tindeka-bsc-21-twiki.pdf}
}

W. Dudek and T. Winiarski
Scheduling of a Robot’s Tasks With the TaskER Framework
IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 161449–161471, 2020
[ BIB | DOI | abstract | URL | VIDEO ]
```
@article{tasker2020-twiki,
  author = {Dudek, Wojciech and Winiarski, Tomasz},
  journal = {IEEE Access},
  title = {{Scheduling of a Robot's Tasks With the TaskER Framework}},
  year = {2020},
  volume = {8},
  number = {},
  doi = {10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3020265},
  pages = {161449-161471},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  twiki = {journal},
  url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9180351},
  video = {https://vimeo.com/403391725}
}
```
Robots, in contrast to typical computational systems, affect the physical environment directly. Therefore, other assumptions must be considered for task management procedures in these system types. Robots coexist with humans in the environment and act upon potentially dangerous objects (e.g., a cooker); hence, extra safety procedures in robot task harmonisation must be ensured. Additionally, an algorithm that schedules tasks for a robot and optimises the robot’s operation needs to consider the robot motion time, dynamics of the physical processes, changes in the robot user preferences and changes in the environment made by other habitants. In this article, we investigate the problem of switching between various independent tasks safely and state requirements for a control system resolving it. The tasks are uploaded to a store, launched on a robot at the user’s request (similar to smartphone applications) and scheduled following a configurable algorithm. Furthermore, we design a model of systems satisfying the requirements. The systems are structured with agents of different classes. We propose a task-switching procedure and dedicated states of the finite-state machines describing the operation of the agents. Finally, we present a TaskER framework implementing the model, and we verify the model through the execution of an exemplary system in scenarios showing the benefits of the model implementation. As a result of our approach application, the robot tasks can be safely interrupted, postponed, resumed, and potential danger (e.g., leaving a cooker on for a long time) can be minimised.
N. S. Brenčič, M. Dragoi, I. Mocanu, and T. Winiarski
Intuitive and Intelligent Solutions for Elderly Care
in Digital Health in Focus of Predictive, Preventive and Personalised Medicine,
L. Chaari, Ed. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2020, pp. 101–108 [ BIB | DOI | abstract | URL ]
```
@inbook{brenvcivc2020intuitive,
  author = {Bren{\v{c}}i{\v{c}}, Neja Samar and Dragoi, Marius and Mocanu, Irina and Winiarski, Tomasz},
  editor = {Chaari, Lotfi},
  title = {Intuitive and Intelligent Solutions for Elderly Care},
  booktitle = {Digital Health in Focus of Predictive, Preventive and Personalised Medicine},
  year = {2020},
  publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
  address = {Cham},
  pages = {101--108},
  isbn = {978-3-030-49815-3},
  doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-49815-3_12},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  twiki = {article},
  url = {http://gitlab-stud.elka.pw.edu.pl/robotyka/rpmpg_pubs/-/raw/main/2020/elderly-care.pdf}
}
```
In this article we present our contributions from projects addressing Active and Assisted Living (AAL), a field which can have a considerable impact on elderly care by allowing not only preventive and predictive actions (e.g. monitoring and assessment of health parameters, sleep and mobility patterns) but also personalized care through intelligent solutions which relay on robotic platforms. The latter can also provide active support and intervention in critical situations such as fall detection and hazard identification. We are focusing on the outcome of the user-centered design involved in the projects and on some of the novel technologies which confer novelty and intelligence to our development. The main results from a multinational survey and conjoint analysis are also presented. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the IONIS consortium partners.
T. Winiarski, W. Dudek, M. Stefańczyk, Ł. Zieliński, D. Giełdowski, and D. Seredyński
An intent-based approach for creating assistive robots’ control systems
arXiv:2005.12106, 2020
[ BIB | DOI | abstract ]
```
@article{winiarski-intent-20-twiki,
  author = {Winiarski, Tomasz and Dudek, Wojciech and Stefańczyk, Maciej and Zieliński, Łukasz and Giełdowski, Daniel and Seredyński, Dawid},
  journal = {arXiv:2005.12106},
  title = {An intent-based approach for creating assistive robots' control systems},
  year = {2020},
  doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2005.12106},
  projects = {aal-incare,EARL},
  twiki = {article}
}
```
The current research standards in robotics demand general approaches to robots’ controllers development. In the assistive robotics domain, the human-machine interaction plays a substantial role. Especially, the humans generate intents that affect robot control system. In the article an approach is presented for creating control systems for assistive robots, which reacts to users’ intents delivered by voice commands, buttons, or an operator console. The whole approach was applied to the real system consisting of customised TIAGo robot and additional hardware components. The exemplary experiments performed on the platform illustrate the motivation for diversification of human-machine interfaces in assistive robots.

Ł. Zieliński

Robot mobilny TIAGo wykorzystujący planowanie automatyczne przy wspieraniu osób starszych

Master’s thesis, IAiIS, 2020

Tutor: Tomasz Winiarski
[ BIB | URL ]

@mastersthesis{lzielinski-msc-20-twiki,
  author = {Zieliński, Łukasz},
  title = {{Robot mobilny TIAGo wykorzystujący planowanie automatyczne przy wspieraniu osób starszych}},
  school = {WEiTI},
  year = {2020},
  type = {Master's thesis},
  lang = {pl},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  organization = {IAiIS},
  publisher = {IAiIS},
  tutor = {Tomasz Winiarski},
  twiki = {msc},
  url = {https://gitlab-stud.elka.pw.edu.pl/robotyka/rpmpg_pubs/-/raw/main/student-theses/lzielinski-msc-20-twiki.pdf}
}

W. Dudek, M. Węgierek, J. Karwowski, W. Szynkiewicz, and T. Winiarski
Task harmonisation for a single–task robot controller
in 12th International Workshop on Robot Motion and Control (RoMoCo), 2019, pp. 86–91
[ BIB | DOI | abstract | URL ]
```
@inproceedings{Dudek-multitasking-romoco-2019-twiki,
  author = {Dudek, Wojciech and Węgierek, Maciej and Karwowski, Jarosław and Szynkiewicz, Wojciech and Winiarski, Tomasz},
  title = {Task harmonisation for a single--task robot controller},
  booktitle = {12th International Workshop on Robot Motion and Control (RoMoCo)},
  year = {2019},
  editor = {K.~Kozłowski},
  pages = {86--91},
  organization = {IEEE},
  conference = {romoco12},
  doi = {10.1109/RoMoCo.2019.8787385},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  twiki = {article},
  url = {http://gitlab-stud.elka.pw.edu.pl/robotyka/rpmpg_pubs/-/raw/main/2019/multitasking.pdf}
}
```
The technical capabilities of robots and their increased versatility require a single robot to be able to perform a wide array of complex tasks. What more, when performing a task, it may be asked to carry out another one. Switching between different tasks is a known problem in engineering, however, robots, compared to programs operating in a virtual space, are unique as they must follow laws of physics. In this work, we introduce a method for harmonising service robot tasks being managed by finite state machines. The method allows for the handling of safe suspend and resume procedures for a complex task. Additionally, we consider a case when the robot can not switch the current task to another at any time. The method was implemented and verified by conducting multiple interruptions of one task by another one. The tasks during the verification were being performed in simulation by a TIAGo robot.
D. Seredyński, T. Winiarski, and C. Zieliński
FABRIC: Framework for Agent-Based Robot Control Systems
in 12th International Workshop on Robot Motion and Control (RoMoCo), 2019, pp. 215–222
[ BIB | DOI | abstract | URL ]
```
@inproceedings{Seredynski-fabric-romoco-2019-twiki,
  author = {Seredyński, Dawid and Winiarski, Tomasz and Zieliński, Cezary},
  booktitle = {12th International Workshop on Robot Motion and Control (RoMoCo)},
  title = {{FABRIC: Framework for Agent-Based Robot Control Systems}},
  year = {2019},
  editor = {K.~Kozłowski},
  organization = {IEEE},
  pages = {215--222},
  conference = {romoco12},
  doi = {10.1109/RoMoCo.2019.8787370},
  projects = {aal-incare},
  twiki = {article},
  url = {http://gitlab-stud.elka.pw.edu.pl/robotyka/rpmpg_pubs/-/raw/main/2019/fabric.pdf}
}
```
The paper presents FABRIC, a framework and a toolchain that facilitates semi-automatic generation of agentbased control systems for robots. The presented approach combines agent-based formal specification with implementation employing component-based frameworks. The input for the generation method consists of the formal specification of the designed control system expressed in a DSL and source code encapsulated in components. Decomposition of a formal specification into a hierarchical structure of patterns and their parameters is employed. It implies a division of the specification into a number of items, produced using a DSL and source code expressed in a universal programming language. The method of generating a working agent-based system, out of its specification and selected components, is verified on a service robot that executes complex tasks, i.e. door opening.