'Robotic' but useful behaviour

My wife sometimes behaves like a robot.  And I'm glad she does.

For example, we live in a Victorian house with steep stairs and no downstairs loo. We've had an extra handrail fitted and she manages the stairs pretty well.  I always set off down the stairs and remind her to follow me down.  Every so often, I realise after a couple of steps that she isn't following.  Invariably I find that her clothing has caught on the new narrow handrail.

Now what would be even better would be if she could tell me about the problem but, failing that, this seems to be the next best thing and it reminds me so much of video you see of robots encountering obstacles.

Similarly, she sometimes sits down unexpectedly, when we are out walking.  Sometimes because she is tired or because I'm hurrying her (which is always best avoided).  But she always sits down very, very carefully and seldom comes to any harm, much as a robot might be expected to do.

I don't know whether other people with dementia do this, but I'm glad she does.