An assistive robot in healthcare scenarios requiring monitoring and rules regulation: exploring Pepper use case

Machines are increasingly getting incorporated into real-life scenarios involving humans. From small devices offering basic aids to big humanoid robots designed to assist humans, involvement is on the rise. Increased integration and consequent interaction between robots and humans are the future directions we are headed in. In this paper, we explore the Pepper humanoid robot as an assistive robot in a scenario where support is needed in the form of a specific task and the robot assistant moves autonomously. We present a description of the design and development of the system, the findings, and the inferred future directions for research and development in the domain. An assistive robot system that meets requirements such as independence, good perception, navigation, communicative ability, and adaption to changing ambiance could be extended to various environments. Implementing a use case of monitoring a precautionary measure of dressing in a face mask, we explore Pepper as an assistive robot effective for such tasks.