Thai Start-Up Plans Robot To Assist Elderly

October 18, 2009 | By Kim Walker

Usually we hear such stories from japan but now a Thai company has recognized that “A robot to assist elderly people will have a very huge market, as most countries are moving towards an ageing society,” their President said.

CT Asia Robotics, will begin it’s journey with a pilot project to install robots at popular MK Restaurants to deliver food to its customers.

The four-month-old company is a subsidiary of the large local software firm, CT Asia.

MK Restaurants has ordered the first lot of 10 robots and the company expects to make delivery in the first quarter of next year (2010).

They will be human-friendly robots standing about 1.1-metres tall and weighing 60 kilograms. They will be able to walk to serve MK’s dishes to assigned tables and will also be capable of receiving voice commands in Thai.

Development of the robots has required the use of many technologies, including infrared to control their ability to walk, lasers to detect objects and prevent the robots crashing, voice recognition to receive commands, and electronic, mechanical and software architecture.

The company is also developing a second-generation robot for edutainment purposes. It is expected to be shown off at the Science Museum and TK Park as well as visiting schools.

Then, with the know-how gathered from developing two generations of its robots, it plans to develop a third generation robot as an assistant for old people. The third-generation robot is expected to be a major source of revenue.

Chalermpon said the goal of CT Asia Robotics was to begin exporting Thai-made robots, as assistants for the elderly, around the world within four years. The first target market is Japan.