Intelligent control of a robotic aid system for the physically disabled

An overview is given of research on a robotic aid system for the physically disabled. One of the goals of the system is to assist the user in feeding. In order to provide safe and easy-to-use services to the user in an environment where the robot arm operates near the user´s face, reactive and predictive control is essential. Several research issues involved in building such an intelligent controller are presented, and the approach used to implement a mechanism for avoiding collision of the robot arm with the user´s face is described