The unceasing aging of the population is leading to new problems in developed countries. Robots represent an opportunity to extend the period of independent living of the elderly as well as to ameliorate their economic burden and social problems. We present a new social robot, Mini, specifically designed to assist and accompany the elderly in their daily life either at home or in a nursing facility. Based on the results of several meetings with experts in this field, we have built a robot able to provide services in the areas of safety, entertainment, personal assistance and stimulation. Mini supports elders and caregivers in cognitive and mental tasks. We present the robot platform and describe the software architecture, particularly focussing on the human–robot interaction. We give in detail how the robot operates and the interrelation of the different modules of the robot in a real use case. In the last part of the paper, we evaluated how users perceive the robot. Participants reported interesting results in terms of usability, appearance, and satisfaction. This paper describes all aspects of the design and development of a new social robot that can be used by other researchers who face the multiple challenges of creating a new robotic platform for older people.

人口的不断老龄化在发达国家导致了新的问题。机器人代表了一个机会，可以延长老年人的独立生活时间，并减轻他们的经济负担和社会问题。我们推出了一款新型社交机器人Mini，专门设计用于在老年人在家中或护理机构中协助和陪伴老年人的日常生活。根据与该领域专家几次会议的结果，我们构建了一个能够在安全，娱乐，个人帮助和刺激方面提供服务的机器人。Mini在认知和心理任务方面为长者和照顾者提供支持。我们介绍了机器人平台并描述了软件体系结构，特别着重于人机交互。在实际使用案例中，我们将详细介绍机器人的操作方式以及机器人不同模块的相互关系。在本文的最后一部分，我们评估了用户如何看待机器人。参与者报告了有关可用性，外观和满意度的有趣结果。本文介绍了新社交机器人的设计和开发的各个方面，其他研究人员可以使用这些社交机器人，他们面临着为老年人创建新机器人平台的多重挑战。