Development of a skincare robot

Abstract

With aging, human skin develops a dry condition called senile xerosis. The skin lesion can be prevented by daily skin care such as applying an ointment containing moisturizing factors several times a day. Aged persons, however, have difficulties in accessing the back and rely therefore on nursing care for such treatment. Unfortunately, in underpopulated areas such nursing care may not always be available. To tackle this problem, the concept of a skincare robot is proposed. The feasibility of the concept is then confirmed by designing a real skincare robot and by performing experiments for applying ointment on human's back. The robot developed is able to recognize the shape of the body, to plan the appropriate motion paths for the hand, and to execute the task without applying any excessive forces.