Publications by authors named "Max Pfingsthorn"

An increase of the aging population with a decrease in the available nursing staff has been seen in recent years. These two factors combined present a challenging problem for the future and has since become a political issue in many countries. Technological advances in robotics have made its use possible in new application fields like care and thus it appears to be a viable technological avenue to address the projected nursing labor shortage.

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Conceptual knowledge about objects is essential for humans, as well as for animals, to interact with their environment. On this basis, the objects can be understood as tools, a selection process can be implemented and their usage can be planned in order to achieve a specific goal. The conceptual knowledge, in this case, is primarily concerned about the physical properties and functional properties observed in the objects.

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Ensuring care is one of the biggest humanitarian challenges of the future since an acute shortage in nursing staff is expected. At the same time, this offers the opportunity for new technologies in nursing, as the use of robotic systems. One potential use case is outpatient care, which nowadays involves traveling long distances.

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The integration of people with disabilities into the working world is an important, yet challenging field of research. While different inclusion efforts exist, people with disabilities are still under-represented in the open labor market. This paper investigates the approach of using a collaborative robot arm to support people with disabilities with their reintegration into the workplace.

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