This video is from the WebMD
Video Archive
You are in the WebMD Content Archive for WebMD Video.
WebMD archives all video content after 48 months to ensure our readers can easily find the most timely content.
To locate the most current information on this topic, please use our search box
Close
EL-E The Laser-Guided Robot
Reviewed By:
Brunilda Nazario,
SOURCES: 2008 Medical Reference from Medstar Television. Jonathan Glass, MD, ALS Specialist, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. Charlie Kemp, PhD, Robotic Design Director, Georgia Tech Center for Healthcare Robotics, Atlanta, GA
© 1999-2011 Medstar Television
Narrator:
EL-E (ellie) Robot is hardly any hunk of metal. It's a state-of-the-art gopher.
Charlie Kemp, Ph.D.:
You use a laser pointer to directly tell the robot I want you to get this object for me.
And you can also tell the robot I want you to deliver the object to me by pointing to yourself, or deliver to another person by pointing to them.
Narrator:
Developers believe it will make a huge difference for those who must rely on others for the basics.
Charlie Kemp, Ph.D. :
If they drop an object on the ground it'll just stay on the ground often until a human caregiver comes to them or a loved one picks it up for them.
Narrator:
With a special point and click from you, EL-E uses sensors and cameras to get the job done.
Charlie Kemp, Ph.D.:
There's a lot of work in there that's kind of hidden underneath for you as a user all you have to do is click on an object,
but there, there a lot of different algorithms and things working so the robot can see the world, see the object, understand it and be able to grasp it.
Narrator:
Doctor John Glass, an A-L-S specialist, is helping fine tune EL-E.
Jonathan Glass, M.D. :
We develop these kinds of robots that will have a huge amount of flexibility to be true assistants in the home for people and allow them to recreate some of their independence that they've lost.
Narrator:
The robot can even take subtle differences into account.
Jonathan Glass, M.D. :
It's gonna have to deal with something that got in its way and it's gonna have to find its way around it.
It's gonna have to deal with something that's on the shelve that's right next to something else and it has to somehow distinguish those two things so it knows what the right thing is to get.
Narrator:
Which is something that can help patients of all kinds.
Robot speaking:
Can we do it again?
Narrator:
EL-E is now in lab tests with actual A-L-S patients. For WebMD, I'm Sandee Lamotte.
