An Evidence-Tiered Biomimetic Design Space Workflow for the Conceptual Design of Elderly-Care Robots.

BACKGROUND: Early-stage elderly-care robot design requires biological analogies to be translated without turning qualitative inspiration into unvalidated numerical evidence. METHODS: We audited 15 initial variables and retained a four-dimensional exploratory space: nominal shell-edge radius (V06), pre-braking trigger distance (V09), translational speed (V11), and commanded deceleration (V12). Latin hypercube samples were filtered by V09 - V112/(2V12) ≥ 0. A derived warning margin proxy, I5 = 1 - [V112/(2V12)]/V09, was evaluated with fixed-seed feasibility, distribution, coverage, cluster, coordinate stability, and distance-sensitivity diagnostics. RESULTS: The pooled pre-check acceptance rate was 0.8621. I5 descriptive and distributional stability passed at N = 768→1024, but four-dimensional coverage passed in only 10/30 seeds; no sufficient N was established up to 1024. Natural cluster structure was not detected, exact representative coordinates were seed-sensitive, and selection overlap under an alternative distance definition was 0.53. Two fixed-seed points were therefore retained only as illustrative boundaries. AI-assisted images and legacy Rhino studies were used for qualitative design communication, not as validated realizations of the computation. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence-tiered workflow supports traceable exclusion of infeasible combinations and transparent product design translation while preserving explicit limits: no physical safety, usability, manufacturing, or optimality claim is made.