New member exploring eldercare robotics, looking to connect

[William Kabaz]

Hey RSSC,

I’m William, new member here.

I’m exploring an eldercare robotics concept for older adults living alone or in retirement homes: a stationary home robot that helps with medication reminders, visual intake confirmation, companionship, and family connection.

I’d love to meet people interested in embedded systems, sensors, computer vision, low-power wearables, robotics, or consumer hardware.

Still early, so I’m mostly looking for honest technical feedback and reality checks.

Happy to grab coffee, share the concept, and learn from anyone interested. If there’s a strong mutual fit, I’m also open to deeper collaboration.

[Chris Albertson]

This is a very good use case for robots if you want a long-term research project.   As a hobby, long term reseach is good.   If you want a product for your investors, it is doomed to fail.

Today the solution to this use case is “iPad on a stick”.  Basically, you build a little car with a tall mast and mount the iPad on the mast, then drive it around.   I think it's pointless because “Why drive it around?"  Just buy three or six iPads and leave one at each place.  Or use a phone that the user carries.

But with enough time you can do better.     One idea I had years ago was that because humanoid robots were so hard and expensive.  Why not build a disabled humanoid?   This is like a person in a wheelchair.  It can do many tasks except walking up stairs.     The “human in a wheelchair bot” covers every one of your use cases and can even open medication and claer dirty dishes, maybe even cook food and sort laundry.    Much of the world and almost all of the world around the elderly is designed for wheelchair access with ramps and wide doorways.    I got as far as some simple CAD.    

The industry calls it “telepresence,” but I call it “facetime on a stick.”  I think you have a huge opportunity to do better than that but I decided I do not want a 250 pound robot rolling around my house.  Just not what I want to work on.   But really, putting the humanoid in a wheelchair made the project technically possible and affordable.

My curent idea is that “the house is a robot that you live inside”. Even if there is a mobile device inside, it is not THE robot, just part of it.  The sensors live on the walls and brain in a server or the cloud.    HAL in the 2001 film was a robot like that, but that did not end well; he killed everyone.

So you elder care ‘bot that watches if they take medication could be very boring, just a tap on the data stream from an indoor security camera that goes to an AI that tracks medication usage.  Boring but very cost-effective if you already have the camera.   

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[William Kabaz]

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I agree with the core point: if the product is “robot that does everything,” it becomes a long-term research project, not a fundable startup.

That’s why I’m trying to narrow the first version to something much more boring and measurable.

I’m less interested in building a humanoid or mobile telepresence robot at this stage. The more interesting wedge to me is: can we create a low-cost resident-facing device that helps families and care teams get better visibility into the older adult’s daily state?

For example: scheduled check-ins, mood/pain/confusion signals, medication routine reminders, no-response alerts, and simple family connection. Not replacing caregivers. More like a lightweight data collection and reassurance layer.

For facilities, the question would be whether this reduces routine staff interruptions and family update burden. For families, the question is whether it gives enough peace of mind to justify the product.

I also agree with your “house as the robot” idea. In the long run, the intelligence probably lives across sensors, cameras, wearables, and cloud software. The physical robot may just be the friendly interface that makes older adults actually engage with the system.

So the real question I’m trying to answer now is not “can we build a robot?” but:

Can we identify one painful workflow in elder care where a simple companion interface + sensors + AI reports saves measurable time, reduces anxiety, or catches problems earlier?

Would be happy to hear where you think the strongest first wedge is: home care, memory care facilities, medication routines, family reassurance, or staff workflow reduction.

Best regards

William Kabaz

+1 818 262 3762

[Chris Albertson]

On May 9, 2026, at 4:48 PM, William Kabaz <willia...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Chris,

Can we identify one painful workflow in elder care where a simple companion interface + sensors + AI reports saves measurable time, reduces anxiety, or catches problems earlier?

Would be happy to hear where you think the strongest first wedge is: home care, memory care facilities, medication routines, family reassurance, or staff workflow reduction.

If I knew the answer I’d be rich.    But just guessing that the biggest payoff in dolars is if you can delay to time when the older person has to move out of their house and into assisted living.    You save many thousands of dollars each month you put that off.   A 6 month delay could pay for any robot.

but could a robot do that?   The reasons we put my dad in the assisted living was when he could not longer do the basics like buy food and prepare it, get out of bed and take a shower or manage laundry.   A robot that can help with that is impossible to build.

One person I know of is older and has lost his abilty to know the difference betwen a cell phone and TV remote but still can walk and get dressed. He gets upset when the phone does not work but he is holding the TV remote.    This person need full-time supervision but no heavy lifting.     Supervsion is very expensive.  But is Today’s AI up to that task?   No. not yet.

I still like my wheelchair bot idea and I would make it look alike an 80 year old woman in a wheel chair.  She’s be smart and able to talk to people but unable to get out of the chair or lift any thing more then a tea cup.   She might even be able to fold laundry or sort mail.  But even that is really hard.

The other idea is a dog-robot.   These are easy to make and everyone like dogs especialy if thay can handle basic English.  The dog could help monitor stats and engage the person.

Are these economically just affable?    I think only if it can dealy moving out of the home.    The other way to be economicaly justified is to be VERY cheap.  Like duct-tape 10 year old used call phone to the wall and call it a “wireless security camera”. 

But if you real goal is like mine, self-education. Build anything you like. 

[Thomas Messerschmidt]

Hi,

I am studying how AI can assist blind folks. Does that overlap your goals?

Thomas Messerschmidt

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Need something prototyped, built or coded? I’ve been building prototypes for companies for 15 years. I am now incorporating generative AI into products.

Contact me directly or through LinkedIn:   

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ai-robotics/

On May 9, 2026, at 3:16 PM, William Kabaz <willia...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[William Kabaz]

Hi Thomas, 

I’m not sure. How does your system plans to assist blind folks?

Best regards

William Kabaz

+1 818 262 3762