If you’ve ever had to care for an aging parent, you know that one of the biggest obstacles to having them stay at home rather than having to be in a nursing home is mobility. As soon as they become confined to a wheel chair and are unable to use their legs, the prospect of having them at home with their loved ones becomes insurmountable. I know this because this is what happened in my family, and this is why learning about TOYOTA’s new robots is so exciting for me.

With the oldest baby boomers celebrating their 65th birthdays in 2011, we’re seeing many companies jumping into the field of healthcare robotics to help cope with the anticipated lack of nursing and healthcare workers to care for them.

TOYOTA today unveiled new Partner Robots to help do the job. The robots are being developed to assist nursing staff in the care of the elderly and disabled, as well as to help people be more independent. The robots will help assisting a person to walk, assisting users for walking exercises, assisting with balance training, and to assist in transferring from the bed to a wheelchair or other device.

Independent Walk Assist Developed to support independent walking for people whose ability to walk has been impaired by leg paralysis or other causes. Mounted onto the paralyzed leg, it helps the knee to bend to facilitate natural walking.

Walk Training AssistDesigned for walking training, this robot guides the leg to bend and move forward and is able to support a patient’s weight. As the patient improves, it can be adjusted to progressively support less weight.

Balance Training Assist This robot was developed to help people improve their balance. The patient stands on a device that looks like a Segway while the machine displays one of three games (tennis, soccer or basketball) on a monitor. The patient controls the characters in the game by shifting weight, thereby helping to develop balance.

Patient Transfer Assist Developed to reduce the heavy physical burden required of caretakers when transferring patients, this robot uses a combination of weight-supporting arms and a mobile platform to help the caregiver transfer process from bed to toilet and back.

The robots are expected to be commercially launched in the Japan market in 2013.