Imagine having a robot at home that can help you pick up a household object, such as your cell phone, and deliver it to you. All you do is point a Star Wars-like green laser at the object. When the robot sees the beam of light, it says, “Detected laser pointer.” Once it locates the object itself, it lets you know by saying, “Ding,” and grasps the object with its laser-equipped hand. Once it’s delivered to you or elsewhere in the house, the robot returns to your side, awaiting the next command.

Far-fetched? Science fiction?

El-E Robot in Development
Neither. The technology is here, and the robot goes by the name Elevated-Engagement (El-E for short). It’s the first home-assistance robot guided by laser commands that can pick up objects of varying heights and navigate in a room it’s never been in before.

Professor Charles Kemp, director of the Center for Healthcare Robotics at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, leads El-E’s creative team that includes students from his university lab and professors from other universities. The group has been working closely with Jonathan Glass, a neurology professor at Emory University in Atlanta and director of the Emory ALS Center.

Robot Available Within 10 Years
So far, the five-foot-seven-inch El-E can see, hear, push, pull, open doors, respond to voice commands, and speak. The robot has a built-in camera and four sensors to detect objects.
Within 10 years, Kemp estimates, El-E will be in the homes of people in wheelchairs and others with motor impairments.

The prototype El-E is currently being tested in the homes of disabled people, particularly those with ALS. The trials overall have been successful, enabling handicapped people to live more independently.

In more than 94 percent of homes, El-E was able to pick up and deliver the requested object. But there’s more to be done. The average home has clutter, and Kemp’s team is working on enabling El-E to find and retrieve specific objects among the disarray.

El-E comes with options for disabled people who have partial or no arm and hand control. Users may choose to use a touch pad or a head-mounted laser to give commands to the robot.

Will El-E replace service animals? Not in the near future, anyway. Although you won’t have to feed or clean up after this robotic helper, researchers haven’t yet discovered how to make it affectionate.