With the accelerated aging of the global population, the elderly care robot industry is facing huge development opportunities. According to data from the World Health Organization, it is estimated that by 2050, the global population aged 60 and above will reach 2.1 billion, with 426 million people aged 80 and above. Currently, global elderly care robots are showing a diversified development trend, with each country having its own characteristics in technology research and development, product application, and other aspects. In February of this year, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) officially released the first international standard for elderly care robots led by China, marking a new stage of standardization, normalization, and intelligence in the global elderly care robot industry. Recently, our reporter visited the headquarters of IEC in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as research institutions in Germany and Japan, to investigate the technological development of elderly care robots and the significance of the introduction of international standards. ——Editor's note: International Electrotechnical Commission - Unified Standards, Creating Better Products With the booming development of new generation information technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and big data, as well as the increasing maturity of key components such as AI chips, sensors, and servo motors, the application of elderly care machines in assisting walking, health care, household assistance, emotional companionship, emergency calls, and other areas is becoming increasingly widespread. According to Katherine Bischoberger, editor in chief of IEC's "Electronic Technology" magazine, globally, countries such as China, Japan, Germany, the United States, and Italy are relatively leading in related technology fields, and their products have a certain market share in assisted rehabilitation training, intelligent nursing, and other areas. In response to the lack of unified performance standards for various types of elderly care robot products in the global market, the first international standard for elderly care robots developed by China provides a benchmark for the design, manufacturing, testing, and certification of related products. IEC is the global organization responsible for developing international standards in electrical, electronic, information technology, and related fields. The international standard for elderly care robots was developed under the leadership of the IEC Active Assisted Living Systems Committee. Ma Dejun, Chairman of the System Committee and Vice Chairman of the China Association for Standardization, told reporters that China has been conducting interdisciplinary research on this topic since 2013 and has jointly initiated the establishment of the IEC Active Assisted Living Systems Committee with multiple countries. After efforts, this internationally influential standard was ultimately formed. It not only covers the general requirements for usability, reliability, accessibility, energy consumption, and noise of elderly care robots, but also addresses the specific needs of elderly people in daily life, health monitoring, emergency response, social communication, household assistance, entertainment and leisure, home management, care support, mobile assistance, and information and data management. It proposes functional classification and performance index requirements for elderly care robots. Bisobog said, "The market prospects for elderly care robots are broad, and international standards are important for the world." According to Madman, advanced sensors are one of the core components of elderly care robots. Visual sensors can monitor the activity status of elderly people in real time and detect emergency situations such as falls in a timely manner; Auditory sensors can recognize speech commands and abnormal sounds of elderly people in complex environments; Tactile sensors can sense the limb movements and strength of elderly people, providing auxiliary support; Olfactory sensors can monitor abnormal odors in the environment, such as gas leaks. In addition, navigation and obstacle avoidance technology are key to achieving autonomous movement of elderly care robots. With the help of technologies such as LiDAR, ultrasonic sensors, and visual recognition, robots can accurately navigate in complex environments, avoid obstacles, and reach designated locations. For example, with the help of fully automatic bathing robots, it is possible to perform operations such as bathing, scrubbing, and drying according to the program, which is very suitable for disabled elderly people. How can international standards promote the healthier development of the global elderly care robot industry? Ma Dejun stated that this standard provides manufacturers with clear design and production benchmarks, which helps to improve product quality and performance, promote standardization and transparency in the elderly care robot market; On the other hand, it is conducive to enhancing consumer trust, allowing consumers to choose suitable products and services with more confidence, and expanding market demand. It is reported that China has favorable conditions for the rapid development of elderly care robots. The Chinese government actively introduces relevant policies to support the development of the elderly care robot industry and promote the popularization of smart elderly care models. Chinese enterprises have continuously made breakthroughs in technological innovation, product application, and market promotion, launching various products such as toilet robots, exoskeleton robots, feeding robots, cooking robots, etc., and have been preliminarily applied in elderly care institutions and households. The emergence of elderly care robots can not only alleviate the burden of caring for the elderly in society and families, but also support the elderly to enjoy a higher quality of life. With the continuous advancement of technology, its functions will become more complete and diversified. At the same time, the development of the elderly care robot industry will also drive the coordinated progress of related industry chains, such as sensors, chips, software, cloud computing, etc., creating new growth engines for the global economy. German GARMI robot - master-slave partner, capable of treating elderly patients. "GARMI, start! ”With the command of the staff, the humanoid robot GARMI (Figure 3, photographed by our reporter Guo Ziyun) woke up from sleep, moved its arm joints, and entered working mode - this is an elderly care robot developed by the Intelligent Research Center for Adaptive Robots under the Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence at the Technical University of Munich in Germany. GARMI has round eyes, a height of 1.65 meters, and 7 joints on the robotic arm. Since its launch in 2019, GARMI's performance has continuously improved and it has taken the lead in the global field of elderly care robots. According to the project leader, Dr. Abduljelli Naseri, GARMI mainly has three functions: daily life assistance, medical care, and social interaction, including delivering water and food to patients, communicating with others, arranging consultations with doctors, remote medical examinations, assisting in rehabilitation training, etc. It has a high level of human-computer interaction. For example, when doctors conduct remote medical examinations, GARMI will hold the examination equipment close to the patient's body and transmit the patient's response to the doctor in real time. Patients can even hold GARMI's hand to adjust their position, and the doctor on the other side can also feel the patient's instructions synchronously. R&D team member Chen Xiao demonstrated to reporters the principle of remote diagnosis and treatment through force feedback in GARMI. Place the same robots on both sides of the doctor and the patient, with the doctor operating the 'master robot' on one end and the 'slave robot' on the patient's end to achieve synchronized follow-up actions. If force is applied on the side of the 'slave robot', the 'master robot' will also sense it. The torque sensor on the GARMI robotic arm can sense the slightest touch, and the momentum observer can estimate the magnitude of the output. GARMI can also process information at a speed of 1 millisecond, ensuring the synchronization of actions. The perception and feedback of force are the key advantages of GARMI, which are conducive to improving the accuracy of remote operations, ensuring patient safety, and effective collaboration between doctors and patients. R&D personnel use digital twin technology in virtual environments, which involves creating virtual models of robots, humans, and the entire environment, simulating the interaction between robots and humans, recording data in real time, and ensuring motion safety. Meanwhile, by equipping GARMI with medical devices such as electrocardiograms, blood pressure monitors, and ultrasound, and integrating IoT sensor technology, doctors can monitor the health indicators of elderly people in real time and make quick responses in emergency situations. This technology is very practical and can provide timely and effective medical assistance for elderly people with limited mobility. Elderly people living in remote areas can also remotely access high-quality medical services, "said Chen Xiao. During the research and development process, the team worked closely with medical institutions, nursing homes, and nursing homes, focusing on the acceptance of robots by the elderly and nursing staff. In the future, the R&D team will continue to train GARMI to learn more diverse skills and perform more refined operations. It is expected to be put into use in nursing homes in 5 years. Japanese AIREC robot - precise force application, helping patients get up. A test is currently underway in the laboratory of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. AIREC, a humanoid robot with a height of 1.66 meters and a weight of 150 kilograms (also known as an AI driven care and nursing robot, Figure 4, provided by the Sugano Research Laboratory at Waseda University in Japan), gently places one hand on the knee of the assisted person and the other hand under their neck, then slowly helps the assisted person stand up to about 45 degrees... This is a routine operation for nursing staff to help bedridden elderly people eat or drink. AIREC project leader and Waseda University professor Shigeki Sugano told reporters, "AIREC can not only help the elderly get up, but also help them put on socks, change urine pads, and so on. The application of this innovative technology demonstrates the potential of technology to change lives and provides new ideas for solving the problems of Japan's aging population with low birth rates and insufficient nursing staff. This project has received funding from the Japan Agency for the Promotion of Science and Technology and is currently one of the largest government funded projects in the field of robotics in Japan. ”According to the team, robots for caring for the elderly need to have at least the following conditions: firstly, they require an intelligent brain. Unlike some industrial robots with pre-set actions, nursing robots need to handle more complex and precise tasks, and quickly respond to various unexpected situations. AIREC is driven by deep neural networks (DNNs), and after multiple action demonstrations by researchers, AIREC can develop preliminary models based on operational data, learn to manipulate and coordinate joints throughout the body to complete specific tasks, and then iteratively improve through self generated data. It can be said that DNN has improved the perception and motion capabilities of robots. Secondly, precise force is required. How to make humanoid robots both soft and powerful, safe and coordinated is currently a difficult point in research and development, "said Shigeki Sugano. Adaptive motion is crucial for nursing robots. Although artificial intelligence models can guide robotic arms to perform precise tasks, providing care requires more complex 'control forces'. Robots must know when and how to apply force to provide safe and effective treatment, and avoid unnecessary pressure on vulnerable areas. The project team will perform impedance control and dynamically adjust joint strength during the demonstration process, allowing the robot to learn how to apply appropriate force. Thirdly, it is necessary to understand people's intentions. The wide-angle stereo camera, fisheye camera, depth camera and other visual sensors installed on the head of AIREC, like human eyes, can capture the position and posture of the nursing object, comprehensively analyze verbal and nonverbal information, and predict its movement behavior. The 7 torque sensors of the AIREC arm joint can record the required force, while the flexible tactile sensor covered by the body records tactile information, thereby assisting the object to stand up with appropriate force. Sugano Shigeki said, "High quality multimodal data is the foundation for training robots, but collecting large-scale data is a daunting task that requires a lot of manpower and time, as well as improving the generalization ability of intelligent robots. In addition, the initial investment cost of elderly care robots is high, and the cost is expected to gradually decrease after mass production. It is expected that AIREC can achieve small-scale applications by 2040 and medium scale applications by 2050. (New Society)