PATRICK

What it does

PATRICK is an AI-powered robotic companion that offers non-contact vital well-being monitoring, AI fall detection to alert caregivers about emergencies, and optional pet interaction features. Enhancing care for seniors aging at home. A BETTER HEALTH BY DESIGN

Your inspiration

The problem of a growing ageing population raises the question of how we, as a society, are going to care for a huge elderly population while facing a reduced working population. Therefore, we focused on addressing challenges faced by seniors and alleviating stress on caretakers. Fatal fall risks and lack of continuous health monitoring plague many seniors, inspiring us to engineer a solution to address these issues to improve the quality of life. This led to the development of PATRICK, a robotic companion designed to enhance elderly care through non-contact monitoring and emergency response.

How it works

Once PATRICK is deployed in a home, it will move around its surroundings. If its ultrasonic sensors detect any obstacles, it will turn away from it and continue moving forward. Upon detecting a human user with its camera, PATRICK will stop and begin measuring the user’s vitals contactlessly using 60GHz electromagnetic (EM) wave sensors. The user’s vitals will be recorded and sent to their caregivers via Telegram. Simultaneously, as the user is within frame of the camera, PATRICK will constantly monitor the user, in case they were to fall. If a fall is detected or abnormal vital signs are measured, an emergency alert is sent to the caregivers via Telegram. This prompts the caregiver to check-in on the user. If the user owns a pet, they may activate PATRICK to make sounds to attract their pet. This grants the user more opportunities to bond with their pet. Users can reward their pet with a treat dispensed by PATRICK after playing.

Design process

Initially, we wanted to create a robot pet for the seniors to interact with. However, that proved costly and had been done before by many big companies. We then looked into improving upon items which the elderly were already interacting with. This lead to us exploring the idea of a wheelchair that could climb stairs and also make communication with caregivers easier. Eventually, we decided to develop a device that made use of both previous ideas. By bringing in the aspect of friendliness from the first idea, together with the mobility and emotional aspect of the second, we came up with a rough foundation for PATRICK. We started with a basic car model with sensors to prove the contactless vital monitoring and autonomous navigation worked. There was also a ball launcher to enhance pet interaction. But this design was deemed “too robotic”. With Prototype 2, We redesigned the robot with a softer, friendlier look but removed the ball launcher to focus on user comfort. In our final design, we combined a camera-based fall detection system with computer vision and reintegrated the ball dispenser and pet interaction features, creating a balanced, practical, and engaging companion for seniors.

How it is different

PATRICK is more than just a robot companion, it is a holistic care solution that supports both physical and emotional well-being. Unlike typical elderly care robots, PATRICK places strong emphasis on emotional health by encouraging interaction with pets through its built-in ball dispenser and pet-attracting sounds. This helps reduce loneliness and supports mental wellness. It also stands out with its innovative use of contactless vital monitoring using 60 GHz electromagnetic waves, allowing it to track heart rate and breathing without any wearables. This unique combination of emotional support and non-invasive health monitoring makes PATRICK a truly distinctive solution.

Future plans

Our current future plans are to implement a Pet-Friendly LiDAR. This allows for faster navigation and tracking of multiple users, as opposed to just one user. Additionally, we also hope to implement a better antenna so that PATRICK could be used in hospital settings such as lower-risk wards (Rehab wards) and Isolation wards. This reduces strain in hospitals, allowing for better reallocation of limited manpower and resources. Lastly, we are trying to move toward a non-intrusive system or make the camera system off-grid, to avoid any security related concerns users may have.

Awards

PATRICK made it into the semi-finals of NUS Health Hack 2025.