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Paris, September 19, 2008
INRIA is one of the main organizers behind IROS, the largest international conference on robotics, to be held from September 22 to 26, 2008. The conference, which began in 1992, is held every year and alternates between the United States, Asia and Europe. This year it is being held at the Nice Acropolis.
This is the second time that INRIA has been selected as one of the organizers of the conference in France, a choice that reflects the Institute's close involvement in the field of robotics. Currently, some fifty INRIA researchers are working on service robots, which offer a great deal of potential with regard to population aging.
The objective of the conference is to demonstrate the promising applications of robotics in the future: no longer limited to the industrial milieu, robots will take on a variety of applications to meet real needs within society, such as personal and medical assistance.
This conference is unique because it brings together researchers and users to discuss the real issues in the field of robotics serving people, with two objectives:
Although robotics and the methods resulting from it have been limited to manufacturing and sectors inaccessible for humans (outer space, nuclear, etc.), they are now beginning to appear in transportation, medicine, human services and even recreation. These applications are called "service robotics."
The concept of human services covers not only assistance to the elderly, but also seeing-eye robots, support robots and surveillance robots. It also includes services related to the human environment, both professional and private, such as janitorial cleaning and assistance with equipment maintenance.
In addition to these types of service robotics, mass-market robotics applications will serve a variety of functions, both widespread (household cleaning, entertainment robots) and less common (assistance the sick, sports training).
By 2025, the Japan Robot Association estimates that service robotics will make up 80% of the robotics market, which will be largely dominated by medical and mass-market assistance robotics. For instance, it is not hard to imagine a future where highly discreet nurse robot assists the elderly in their daily lives, helping them to monitor their health and calling for emergency services if needed.
Service in the janitorial, medical and film industries:The COPRIN research team is studying a new type of robot called a "parallel wire-driven robot" that can be used for multiple applications:
With this system, the robot can be used as a crane to aid in rescue after Scientific leader: Jean-Pierre Merlet |
Parallel wire-driven robot for
rehabilitation and haptic interface (COPRIN) |
Service in assisting individuals with reduced mobilityThe DEMAR research team is working on electrical stimulation, which is one possible way of restoring deficient sensorimotor functions. The objective is to provide models to evaluate these deficiencies and propose neuroprostheses to compensate for it. The main applications are:
Scientific leader: David Guiraud |
Artificial movement and gait restoration (DEMAR) |
The BIPOP research team is studying a walking robot, the Bip, which allows patients to decide on a motion, feel it and act voluntarily with the non-paralyzed part of their body. The patient and robot thus work together. This biped robot with 15 joints allows individuals to walk a few steps with a Scientific leader: Bernard Brogliato |
Walking robot (BIPOP) |
The IROS 2008 conference will provide an opportunity to interview the researchers on INRIA's 15 robotics research-teams, as well as talk with participating users about the new proposed solutions.
Status: A public scientific and technological research
agency reporting to the ministries of Research and Industry.
Leadership: Michel Cosnard, CEO of INRIA; Jean-Pierre
Verjus, Deputy Managing Director.
Annual Budget (2008): 186 M€, more than 20%
of which is provided by outside sources, such as businesses, French
and European government agencies and communities.
Regional Research Centres: Paris - Rocquencourt,
Sophia Antipolis - Méditerranée, Grenoble - Rhône-Alpes,
Nancy - Grand Est, Rennes - Bretagne Atlantique, Bordeaux - Sud-Ouest,
Lille - Nord Europe, Saclay - Ile-de-France.
150 research project groups, 85% of them shared
with other major organizations, schools and universities.
2 800 researchers, 1,000 of them doctoral candidates
790 active research contracts
89 businesses created since 1984.
To learn more, please visit our Website: http://www.inria.fr/index.en.html
Press contacts:Press for INRIA / Agence Lowe Stratéus |
