This paper analyses the adoption of novel robotic technologies to help people suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The work starts with the analysis of problems that mostly affect these patients in order to understand where science and technology can be used to help them. In particular brain-computer interfaces and their implementation with a high energy efficiency humanoid robot for domestic assistance will be taken into account. The features that this kind of technology must have in order to satisfy the required need will be discussed, with some preliminary tests implemented in existing platforms.