Control of a Meal Assistance Robot Capable of Using Chopsticks

We have developed a meal-assistance robot for use by disabled or elderly persons who cannot consume food unassisted. This robot is capable of using chopsticks. In this paper, a control system for our chopstick-equipped meal-assistance robot is introduced. The control system and the chopsticks operating mechanism of the robot utilize both a visual and a tactile control system. The force sensor is used to control the grasping force of the chopsticks, which can adapt to a wide variety of physical food characteristics. The control system of the meal-assistance robot was then fabricated and dining experiments using chopsticks were carried out. The results of the experiments confirmed the effectiveness of the control system.