I-SUPPORT · Project

Robotic Bathing Assistant That Helps Elderly People Wash Safely and Independently

healthPilotedTRL 6

Imagine a gentle robotic arm that helps your grandmother take a bath — washing her back, legs, and the places she can't easily reach anymore. It uses soft grippers and smart sensors so it never pushes too hard, and it learns to adapt to each person's strength and mobility. Think of it like a very patient, very careful bathroom helper that gives older people their dignity back while keeping them safe from slips and falls.

By the numbers

EUR 3,563,198

EU funding for development

consortium partners

countries in consortium

total project deliverables

demonstration deliverables

safety validation rounds completed

SMEs in consortium including coordinator

The business problem

What needed solving

Bathing is one of the most physically demanding and intimate tasks in elderly care, and care homes worldwide face chronic staff shortages for personal hygiene assistance. Falls in the bathroom are among the leading causes of injury for older adults, and the cost of one-on-one bathing assistance is rising as populations age. Facilities need a way to help residents maintain hygiene and dignity without relying entirely on scarce human caregivers.

The solution

What was built

A modular robotic bathing system using soft-robotic manipulators with force/compliance control for safe physical contact. The project delivered system vision functionality, safety validation results across 2 rounds, system integration with performance metrics, and an evaluation plan — 24 deliverables in total, targeting a close-to-market prototype for realistic living settings.

Audience

Who needs this

Nursing home and residential care facility operatorsHome care service providersAssistive robotics and medical device manufacturersHealth insurance companies covering long-term elderly carePublic health authorities managing aging population services

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Elderly Care & Nursing Homes

mid-size

Target: Residential care facility operators

If you are a nursing home operator dealing with staff shortages for intimate care tasks like bathing — this project developed a modular robotic bathing system with soft manipulators and safety-validated human-robot interaction that can assist residents with washing and drying. The system was tested with safety validation across 2 rounds and integrated into a close-to-market prototype designed for realistic living settings.

Assistive Robotics & Medical Devices

SME

Target: Service robotics manufacturers

If you are a robotics company looking to enter the elderly care market — this project built and validated soft-robotic manipulators with advanced force/compliance control specifically designed for safe physical contact with frail users. The consortium of 10 partners across 5 countries produced 24 deliverables including system integration metrics and safety validation results you could license or build upon.

Home Care Services

enterprise

Target: Home care service providers and insurers

If you are a home care provider struggling with the cost and availability of personal care workers for bathing assistance — this project created an ICT-supported robotic system that adapts to individual mobility levels using context-aware sensing. The EUR 3,563,198 EU-funded prototype was designed to work in realistic living settings, potentially reducing per-patient care costs for daily hygiene tasks.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would a system like this cost to deploy in a care facility?

The project received EUR 3,563,198 in EU funding to develop the prototype across 10 partners over 3 years. Commercial pricing is not available from the project data. However, the objective explicitly mentions financial factors were investigated, suggesting cost-effectiveness was a design consideration.

Can this scale to serve multiple residents in a large care home?

The system was designed as a modular, adaptable platform that adjusts to individual users' capabilities through context awareness and sensing. Based on available project data, the prototype was validated for realistic living settings, but scaling to multi-unit deployment would require further commercialization work beyond this research project.

Who owns the intellectual property, and can we license it?

The coordinator is ROBOTNIK AUTOMATION SL, a Spanish SME specializing in robotics. IP from EU-funded RIA projects is typically owned by the consortium partners who generated it. Licensing discussions would need to go through the consortium, starting with ROBOTNIK as coordinator.

Has this been tested with real elderly users?

The project included dedicated safety validation in two rounds (at months 23 and 30), an evaluation plan, and system integration with performance metrics — all completed before pilot testing. The objective states the end result is a close-to-market prototype applicable to realistic living settings, indicating real-world testing was part of the plan.

Does this meet current safety regulations for robots touching people?

Safety was a major focus — the project produced 2 separate safety validation deliverables and states the system complies with the most up-to-date safety standards for physical human-robot interaction. The soft-robotic manipulators and force/compliance control were specifically designed for safe contact with frail elderly users.

Can this integrate with existing care home management systems?

The system is described as modular and ICT-supported, with advanced cognition, sensing, and context awareness modules. Based on available project data, integration with external care management platforms is not explicitly addressed, but the modular architecture suggests adaptability.

Consortium

Who built it

The consortium brings together 10 partners from 5 European countries (Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy), with the Spanish robotics SME ROBOTNIK AUTOMATION leading as coordinator. The mix of 4 universities, 4 research organizations, and 2 industry players (both SMEs) reflects a research-heavy project with real commercial ambition — ROBOTNIK is a working robotics company, not a lab. The 20% industry ratio is modest but typical for assistive robotics at this stage. The geographic spread across Southern and Central Europe covers key elderly care markets where aging populations are creating urgent demand.

ROBOTNIK AUTOMATION SLCoordinator · ES
INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE EN INFORMATIQUE ET AUTOMATIQUEparticipant · FR
SCUOLA SUPERIORE DI STUDI UNIVERSITARI E DI PERFEZIONAMENTO S ANNAparticipant · IT
KARLSRUHER INSTITUT FUER TECHNOLOGIEparticipant · DE
THEOFANIS ALEXANDRIDIS KAI SIA EEparticipant · EL
FRANKFURT UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCESparticipant · DE
EREVNITIKO PANEPISTIMIAKO INSTITOUTO SYSTIMATON EPIKOINONION KAI YPOLOGISTONparticipant · EL
CENTRALESUPELECthirdparty · FR
FONDAZIONE SANTA LUCIAparticipant · IT

How to reach the team

ROBOTNIK AUTOMATION SL is a Spanish robotics SME — reachable through their company website or the project portal.

Order a report on this consortium See ROBOTNIK AUTOMATION SL profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore licensing this bathing robot technology for your care facilities? SciTransfer can connect you with the right consortium partners and help you evaluate the fit.

Order a report on this topic More in Health & Biomedical