The robot is aimed to minimise contact between patient and doctors

A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar has developed a concept named WardBot which can distribute medicines and food to patients. The robot can be instructed to receive and deliver food and medicines and necessary equipment from one room to the other from the remotely located control room.

Available technologies are being utilised for the concept of serving multiple patients/beds in one round. The control room can also instruct multiple bots to accomplish tasks simultaneously.

WardBot can work on a known path and carry food items and medicines for delivery at different beds. The patients will get the intimation through bed-IDs being displayed on small LCD units, the institute informed. Other features include self sanitise on the return path, and can be used even to sanitise the walls, IIT-Ropar claims.

The bot uses simple gesture sensors for the quarantined person to wave a bye to the bot, as an indication of receiving the material. Other features, the IIT claims, include working under low light conditions, maintaining social distancing and obstacle avoidance.

In video| Meet IIT-Ropar’s WardBot

Dr Ekta Singla, associate professor and head, department of mechanical engineering, heading the team said that the team is looking forward to industry collaborations to take the concept to practical use. She further noted, the team is also participating in the Ministry of HRD’s SMADHAN – an initiative by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) where it sought suggestions and ideas from people to solve COVID-19 related problems.
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