Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- It took Norma Margeson a few minutes to learn to control the skinny metal robot. But instead of viewing it as a machine, she soon warmed up to it as a companion.

"Oh, I love it," she said. "I think it is such a unique character. It has a personality all its own. It can be a friend, a very good friend."

Margeson, an artist from Marietta, Georgia, is learning how a health care robot dubbed El-E (pronounced "Ellie") can help her accomplish some simple household tasks. El-E is being tested by Margeson and other patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

"We named it El-E because she reminds us of an elephant. She has this one arm that is sort of gray that can lift objects and move up and down," said Professor Charles Kemp, director of the Center for Healthcare Robotics at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

Right now Kemp and his colleagues are focusing on programming El-E to locate and fetch common household items such as a hairbrush, a bottle of pills, a cell phone or a TV remote. El-E also can open doors. Watch El-E the robot in action »