The ANTY Project developing an intelligent huggy robot

PROBOThe Anty project is an interdisciplinary research project aiming to develop a robotic friend for hospitalized children called Probo. The ANTY project will be used to accomplish three important goals concerning different areas of interest. The first and main goal is to develop and build the robot to enlighten the children's stay in the hospital. A second goal is to use the robot as a multidisciplinary research platform for technical, medical, social and psychological studies. The third goal is to use the project to motivate students and to stimulate new technological innovation.

A hospitalization is a serious physical and mental occurrence. It brings children in some situations which are completely different from home. In hospital, children's experiences are more limited due to the closed and protective environment. These situations and limitations lead to many difficulties and special needs, which the Anty project will try to improve by creating a special friend visiting the children. Robot Probo will be used as a télé-interface to interact with the children on three different levels:

  • Entertainment
  • Communication
  • Medical treatments

Project has started with the development and construction of a first prototype, which provides technical challenges in different research areas. The prototype will support the further growth of the project. Alongside the technical research possibilities the prototype will be used to examine the opportunities for using ANTY in medical, social and psychological research. These researches will provide relevant feedback to optimize the prototype towards a useful "social" robot.

Concerning the research in the medical area, the ANTY Project wants to explore the Robot Assisted Therapy possibilities. Regarding the research in social and psychological areas, they want to focus on child-robot interaction and emotional communication.

The robot will serve as a platform for small projects, which will be outsourced to local high schools or universities. In those projects the students can work on a specific element of the project, knowing that their work is part of a bigger concept. In this way the project is a great approach to motivate students and to stimulate new technological innovation.

For further information, please visit:

Most Popular Now

AI-Powered CRISPR could Lead to Faster G…

Stanford Medicine researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to help scientists better plan gene-editing experiments. The technology, CRISPR-GPT, acts as a gene-editing “copilot” supported by AI to help...

Groundbreaking AI Aims to Speed Lifesavi…

To solve a problem, we have to see it clearly. Whether it’s an infection by a novel virus or memory-stealing plaques forming in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, visualizing disease processes...

AI Spots Hidden Signs of Depression in S…

Depression is one of the most common mental health challenges, but its early signs are often overlooked. It is often linked to reduced facial expressivity. However, whether mild depression or...

ChatGPT 4o Therapeutic Chatbot 'Ama…

One of the first randomized controlled trials assessing the effectiveness of a large language model (LLM) chatbot 'Amanda' for relationship support shows that a single session of chatbot therapy...

AI Tools Help Predict Severe Asthma Risk…

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed artificial intelligence (AI) tools that help identify which children with asthma face the highest risk of serious asthma exacerbation and acute respiratory infections. The study...

AI Model Forecasts Disease Risk Decades …

Imagine a future where your medical history could help predict what health conditions you might face in the next two decades. Researchers have developed a generative AI model that uses...

AI Model Indicates Four out of Ten Breas…

A project at Lund University in Sweden has trained an AI model to identify breast cancer patients who could be spared from axillary surgery. The model analyses previously unutilised information...

AI Distinguishes Glioblastoma from Look-…

A Harvard Medical School–led research team has developed an AI tool that can reliably tell apart two look-alike cancers found in the brain but with different origins, behaviors, and treatments. The...

Smart Device Uses AI and Bioelectronics …

As a wound heals, it goes through several stages: clotting to stop bleeding, immune system response, scabbing, and scarring. A wearable device called "a-Heal," designed by engineers at the University...

Overcoming the AI Applicability Crisis a…

Opinion Article by Harry Lykostratis, Chief Executive, Open Medical. The government’s 10 Year Health Plan makes a lot of the potential of AI-software to support clinical decision making, improve productivity, and...

Dartford and Gravesham Implements Clinis…

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust has taken a significant step towards a more digital future by rolling out electronic test ordering using Clinisys ICE. The trust deployed the order communications...