A team of engineers from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) unveiled an Eldercare robot (E-BAR) that can potentially improve the lives of millions in the future. The device operates like an advanced robot walker/crane that provides floating handles and can lift a person or even prevent a fall without needing a harness. Here’s what you need to know about the eldercare robot.
Aging Population Trends in 2025
When you examine the average age of people, you see a trend towards a growing elderly population. There are many factors contributing to this state, including the fact that people continue to live longer. In 2025 alone, approximately 73 million baby boomers will hit 65 or older.
This statistic reveals that around a fifth of the U.S. population is elderly. Statista reports confirm this data, and analysts predict the trend to continue until 28.8% of the population is elderly by 2100. The growing elderly population puts a strain on the community as they require special care. All of these factors point towards a surplus of elderly patients needing assistance in the coming years.
Why Eldercare Is a Growing Industry
Caring for the elderly is a prime concern for many and a major industry that was valued at $1.1485T last year. Even more telling is the prediction that the industry will reach $2.3682T by 2035. All of these factors helped drive a renewed focus on helping the elderly get the most out of their twilight years.
The elderly population is more likely to get hurt from falls and is less likely to exercise. As such, fall prevention and assistance are major focuses for eldercare providers. Consequently, these concerns have led researchers and engineers to create helpful devices that assist in mobility.
Challenges Facing Modern Eldercare
There are several issues with the current elder care approach. For one, the market has a shortage of care workers. Taking care of the elderly is a hard position that can require a person to work long hours, lift the full weight of people, and deal with uncomfortable and sometimes dirty scenarios. All of these factors, combined with the growing elderly population, create the perfect storm.
The Hidden Dangers of Falling for Seniors
Another issue is that the elderly often aren’t aware of how much danger they are in. For example, many underestimate falling risks. Notably, falls are the leading cause of injury in adults who are 65 and older. They can result in fractured hips, strained muscles, bruises, and in some cases, death.
However, the lack of understanding regarding the dangers of falling has left many elderly people refusing to use physical aids. Additionally, the stigma of using items like walkers leaves some elderly patients with no desire to even try these methods of assistance.
The Shift Toward At-Home Senior Care
There has been a rise in elderly home care provided by families recently. The last decade has seen a majority shift towards taking care of the elderly at home rather than sending them to retirement homes or assisted care options. This desire to enable elderly persons to age in place has led to additional risks and the need for more in-home alternatives.
High Healthcare Costs Limit Eldercare Options
The cost of healthcare is one of the biggest reasons why the elderly may not have access to all the tools they need to live a happy and fulfilling life. The cost of in-house care can add up quickly, draining retirement and family funds. Additionally, adding advanced options like a robot designed to assist the elderly can be out of the budget for anyone other than wealthy individuals.
Recognizing the need to shift the elderly care spectrum to a more natural and home-based approach, there have been some interesting developments. Some concepts include items like fall prediction algorithms, robotic walkers, VR systems, wearables, self-inflating airbags, and exoskeletons.
Why Existing Eldercare Devices Fall Short
Sadly, there have been some inherent problems with nearly all of these approaches. For one, the person almost always needs to wear some form of harness or have a cumbersome device between them and the direction they are heading. For example, a robot walker can assist the elderly move through an environment, but it also creates another item that the person must navigate to traverse an environment or communicate with others.
Inside the E-BAR Eldercare Robot Study
The study1, “Elderly Bodily Assistance Robot (E-BAR): A Robot System for Body-Weight Support, Ambulation Assistance, and Fall Catching, Without the Use of a Harness” introduces a harness-less robot that is capable of assisting the elderly move, lifting, sitting, and can even catch them if they stumble and fall. The device is called Elderly Bodily Assistance (E-bar). It’s unique for many reasons, including that it’s capable of supporting the entire weight of its owner while allowing them to walk independently or lean on the robot’s arms for support.
Key Design Challenges of the E-BAR Robot
Wisely, the engineers began their journey by interviewing nurses and care professionals in an attempt to determine the critical pain points that their robot could alleviate. The team determined that there were 3 main areas of concern developers need to focus on when building the E-bar.
The device needed to provide full body weight support, must fit through doorways in an average home, and allow users to enjoy a full stride when walking. The first requirement ensures that the bot can help the user balance, adjust posture, and transition from sitting to standing. To accomplish this task, the team devises a clever way for the handlebars to follow a person from behind, eliminating the need for a harness.
E-BAR
The E-bar assistance robot integrates a 220-pound base that was built from day one to support the full weight of a person. The base provides omnidirectional movement via a nonholonomic drive base, enabling users to squeeze the 38 cm wide unit through the average American doorway.
Source – MIT
Wheels
Even the wheels of the device were designed to improve its functionality. The omnidirectional wheels located under the base allow the device to move in any direction without the need to pivot. This capability is key for navigating tight spaces and works in tandem with the special wheels that can adjust to improve floor grip during the lifting process.
Foldable Crane
On top of the base is a powerful 18-bar linkage setup that enables the operator to easily provide support to core activities that require lifting, like getting on and off the toilet or out of the bathtub. Interestingly, the crane design ensures that the person is lifted in a natural trajectory, adding to the overall comfort and safety of the device.
Arms
Two handlebars that connect to make a shape of a U extend from the robot. These robotic arms provide immediate support for the user. They integrate some cool safety features, such as the ability to inflate 4 specially built airbags. These airbags are made from graspable material that provides soft cushioning to users and can inflate in milliseconds.
Multi Task
The E-bar robot has a list of tasks it can accomplish using the included remote control. Users can leverage the device to assist in getting out of the bathtub, rising from the floor, sitting or standing from chairs, bending down, and walking. The device operator can conform the crane to the requirements needed by using the remote control.
Real-World Testing of the E-BAR Device
The engineers conducted user experience tests with elderly persons as part of their strategy. The team set up a variety of tasks for the person to complete using only the robot. The adult volunteer completed tasks like using the bot to lift from a bathtub and other common household scenarios.
How the E-BAR Robot Performed in Tests
The test results proved that the E-bar can improve mobility for users. The device was shown to be effective in multiple typical home scenarios like bending to reach for objects, sit-to-stand transitions, and moving up throughout the house.
The study also confirmed that E-bar could easily support the full weight of a person, even when carrying them alongside the device’s base. It assisted in the reverse as well, helping an elderly person stretch to reach something on a tall shelf. In one test, the patient had to fall. The unit deployed four airbags, which allowed the device to catch and stabilize the user in just ≤ 250 ms.
Top Benefits of MIT’s E-BAR Eldercare Robot
There are many benefits that this robot brings to the market. For one, it’s optimized to meet the current needs of today’s growing elderly population. Houses, apparel, and even daily tasks for today’s elderly differ from their predecessors. As such, the engineers needed to optimize design parameters to maximize results. Specifically, a computational model and trade-off analysis helped make this task possible.
Clear Line of Sight: A Unique E-BAR Advantage
One of the biggest advantages of this bot and one of the main reasons why it has strong support from the elderly is that it leaves the user with a completely unobstructed view in the front. This approach is ideal when compared to walkers or harness devices that can leave the wearer feeling inadequate and uncomfortable.
The E-bar device is ideal for use with people who still have some maneuverability and muscle strength but rely on items like a walker to get around. It may weigh a lot more than a walker, but because it sits behind the user and has no harness, it’s not as encumbering or distracting to the user.
How E-BAR Enhances Senior Independence
The E-bar enhances elderly mobility. The device was built from day one to navigate the average home. It can easily go through doorways and lift people even outside its wheelbase support. These factors help the user to feel more independent as they no longer need as much assistance from others to complete daily tasks.
Comfort-First Design: Why E-BAR Works for the Elderly
Comfort is a crucial factor that can be the main reason why a device never makes it to the market. The elderly want to look and feel good. In some instances, they aren’t ready to give up one for the other. This latest development allows them to do away with any harness or other attached device. Instead, they can utilize E-bar via a remote control to complete their day.
Applications and Market Readiness for E-BAR
The main application for this technology is for eldercare and patient recovery. This device will help those suffering from a multitude of ailments and limited mobility achieve a new level of independence. This independence can play a huge role in the morale of individuals who may not be ready to ask for assistance for daily tasks like sitting on the toilet or reaching up to a shelf.
Eldercare Robot Timeline
When you examine the growing elderly age group, it’s easy to see that this technology is in high demand. However, there is no way to rush a medical device into the market. Given the core responsibilities of this robot, it could be 5-10 years before it receives full approval from regulators.
Eldercare Robot Researchers
MIT engineers Roberto Bolli and Harry Asada were behind the E-Bar robotics study. The two believe the device is a crucial step towards preparing the world for a growing elderly community. The project received support from the National Robotics Initiative and the National Science Foundation.
What’s Next for the E-BAR Eldercare Robot
The future of E-bar will include key upgrades like integrating fall-prediction algorithms into the system alongside other AI protocols. This step could transform the remote-controlled device into a fully automated elderly assistance device. The engineers will also work to shrink the size and weight of the bot, making it more accessible and mobile.
Investing in Eldercare Robotics
The robotics industry is a fast-paced market that has several sectors that continue to exhibit growth. The healthcare robotics sector is one of the most prominent and fastest-growing globally. This market includes devices that were built from day one to provide continuous and seamless support as a person’s disability or mobility changes with age. Here’s one company positioned to maximize eldercare robotics moving forward.
Medtronic (MDT +0.26%) entered the market in 1949. It was built by Earl Bakken and Palmer Hermundslie in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a medical equipment repair facility. Since that time, the company has remained a pioneering force, introducing several firsts like the first battery-powered external pacemaker in 1957.
Today, Medtronic operates as one of the world’s largest medical technology companies. It has expanded its operations to include offices in Dublin, Ireland. The company’s Hugo robot-assisted surgery platform is one of its main products. Notably, the device successfully performed a robotic prostatectomy in Santiago, Chile, demonstrating its capabilities.
Medtronic plc (MDT +0.26%)
Today, Medtronic is recognized as a market leader. The company has 95k employees and a clientele across 150 countries. All of these factors, combined with its rich history and innovations, make MDT a high-demand stock that has future growth potential. As such, MDT is worth further review for those seeking exposure to the medical robotics sector.
Latest Medtronic (MDT) Stock News and Developments
Final Thoughts: How Robotics Is Revolutionizing Eldercare
The world is getting older, and robots are getting smarter. Combining these two scenarios could lead to a better world where the elderly still enjoy their independence and freedom, despite the added demands they place on society. For now, this study sheds light on how integrating care professionals and patient input can help to create more useful devices in the future.
Learn about other cool robotics now.
Studies Referenced:
1. Bolli, R. Jr., & Asada, H. H. (2025). Elderly Bodily Assistance Robot (E-BAR): A robot system for body-weight support, ambulation assistance, and fall catching, without the use of a harness [Author’s final manuscript]. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/159256