PUNE: A robot is hard at work in the Covid-19 ward of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cantonment General Hospital at Golibar Maidan in Pune.
The machine moves from bed to bed serving medicines and food to the 33 patients in the ward.
The robot, developed by the Industrial Training Institute, has been deployed by the Pune Cantonment Board.
It cuts back on direct contact with the patients, minimising the possibility of the medical staff and frontline workers catching the coronavirus infection.
A group of teaching staff from the PCB-run Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar ITI Centre developed the robot with assistance from the cantonment board’s engineering branch.
Built at a cost of Rs 5 lakh, the remotely operated robot has a battery and a motor that can work for a day.
Chief executive officer of the cantonment board Amit Kumar said, the robot saved at least four to five rounds of their medical staffers who would have had to go to the Covid-19 ward to deliver food, water bottles and medicines. “This is a big relief for our staff,” he said.
The ITI staff, who are engineers, procured the material to build the robot from the Pune Municipal Corporation to make printed circuit boards and incorporate a motor and a path finder camera in the robot.
“We have mounted a trolley, which has two separate shelves, on the robot. The medical staff put medicines, water bottles and food packets on them. The operator controls the robot with a remote standing at a distance of 50 metre. At present, the operator stands at the entrance of the ward guiding the robot,” Vijay Chavan, principal of the institute, told TOI.
The 33 positive patients at the hospital include 32 from the Pune Municipal Corporation limits. One is a cantonment resident.
“Around 200 medical staff, including doctors, are working in the ward every day. Their safety is of paramount importance to us as there are many cases in the country where they have got infected. By using robot, we are reducing direct interaction of our staffers with the patients for small tasks thus enhancing their safety,” Kumar said.
The machine moves from bed to bed serving medicines and food to the 33 patients in the ward.
The robot, developed by the Industrial Training Institute, has been deployed by the Pune Cantonment Board.
It cuts back on direct contact with the patients, minimising the possibility of the medical staff and frontline workers catching the coronavirus infection.
A group of teaching staff from the PCB-run Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar ITI Centre developed the robot with assistance from the cantonment board’s engineering branch.
Built at a cost of Rs 5 lakh, the remotely operated robot has a battery and a motor that can work for a day.
Chief executive officer of the cantonment board Amit Kumar said, the robot saved at least four to five rounds of their medical staffers who would have had to go to the Covid-19 ward to deliver food, water bottles and medicines. “This is a big relief for our staff,” he said.
The ITI staff, who are engineers, procured the material to build the robot from the Pune Municipal Corporation to make printed circuit boards and incorporate a motor and a path finder camera in the robot.
“We have mounted a trolley, which has two separate shelves, on the robot. The medical staff put medicines, water bottles and food packets on them. The operator controls the robot with a remote standing at a distance of 50 metre. At present, the operator stands at the entrance of the ward guiding the robot,” Vijay Chavan, principal of the institute, told TOI.
The 33 positive patients at the hospital include 32 from the Pune Municipal Corporation limits. One is a cantonment resident.
“Around 200 medical staff, including doctors, are working in the ward every day. Their safety is of paramount importance to us as there are many cases in the country where they have got infected. By using robot, we are reducing direct interaction of our staffers with the patients for small tasks thus enhancing their safety,” Kumar said.
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