Researchers have developed M-nur, a multifunctional nursing wheelchair robot designed to assist elderly individuals with physical disabilities in home-based care. The robot integrates omnidirectional movement, multi-posture transformation, toilet docking, and bathing assistance. A key innovation is an active compensation linkage structure that minimizes relative knee joint slip during posture changes, with linkage dimensions optimized by minimizing the sagittal plane area. For the toilet module, a resettable toilet seat reduces space usage, and linkage lengths are optimized with dynamic modeling of the reset spring force.
Key takeaways
- Active compensation mechanism effectively reduces knee joint slip during posture transformation, with better performance in standing than reclining.
- Toilet docking system is compatible with toilets having a seat height of 502 mm or less, validated through prototype testing.
- User feedback suggests improvements: smoother leather backrest and safety straps combined with rigid guardrails for enhanced safety.
Kinematic modeling and Adams simulations verified the compensation effect, and motion capture experiments on the prototype confirmed real-world performance. The robot's design addresses critical ergonomic and safety issues in elderly care automation, offering a viable solution for home-based nursing assistance.
Source: 《机器人》期刊 (robot.sia.cn) · Published 2026-03-15 · “一种新型多功能护理轮椅机器人结构设计与研究”