The team from Washington State University (WSU) developed the Robot Activity Support System, or RAS, using sensors embedded in a smart home to determine where its residents are, what they are doing and when they need assistance with daily activities.

It navigates through rooms and around obstacles to find people on its own, provides video instructions on how to do simple tasks and can even lead its owner to objects like their medication or a snack in the kitchen.

Diane Cook, regents professor of electrical engineering and computer science and director of the WSU Centre for Advanced Studies in Adaptive Systems where the robot was developed, said the system could help more elderly people stay in their own homes.

“Upwards of 90 per cent of older adults prefer to age in place as opposed to moving into a nursing home,” she said. “We want to make it so that instead of bringing in a caregiver or sending these people to a nursing home, we can use technology to help them live independently on their own.”

The robot and sensor system has so far been tested by 26 students, who were asked to carry out three tasks and then rate the robot’s performance. The researchers said most rated the system favourably.

Bryan Minor, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, said the creators now wanted to help the system with elderly users.

“While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising,” he said. “The next step in the research will be to test RAS’ performance with a group of older adults to get a better idea of what prompts, video reminders and other preferences they have regarding the robot.”

Currently, an estimated 50 per cent of adults over the age of 85 need assistance with every day activities such as preparing meals and taking medication and the annual cost for this assistance in the US is nearly $2tn (£1.6tn).

In October a robot assistant began trials in three European care homes, with the aim of helping elderly people combat the decline in their mental abilities.

The team from Washington State University (WSU) developed the Robot Activity Support System, or RAS, using sensors embedded in a smart home to determine where its residents are, what they are doing and when they need assistance with daily activities.

It navigates through rooms and around obstacles to find people on its own, provides video instructions on how to do simple tasks and can even lead its owner to objects like their medication or a snack in the kitchen.

Diane Cook, regents professor of electrical engineering and computer science and director of the WSU Centre for Advanced Studies in Adaptive Systems where the robot was developed, said the system could help more elderly people stay in their own homes.

“Upwards of 90 per cent of older adults prefer to age in place as opposed to moving into a nursing home,” she said. “We want to make it so that instead of bringing in a caregiver or sending these people to a nursing home, we can use technology to help them live independently on their own.”

The robot and sensor system has so far been tested by 26 students, who were asked to carry out three tasks and then rate the robot’s performance. The researchers said most rated the system favourably.

Bryan Minor, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, said the creators now wanted to help the system with elderly users.

“While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising,” he said. “The next step in the research will be to test RAS’ performance with a group of older adults to get a better idea of what prompts, video reminders and other preferences they have regarding the robot.”

Currently, an estimated 50 per cent of adults over the age of 85 need assistance with every day activities such as preparing meals and taking medication and the annual cost for this assistance in the US is nearly $2tn (£1.6tn).

In October a robot assistant began trials in three European care homes, with the aim of helping elderly people combat the decline in their mental abilities.