The Robotics team's project improves the lives of healthcare workers
11 May 2020 - Not only human beings but, these days - together with doctors, nurses and health technicians - even a robot works in the Campus Covid Center of the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital. The research project of the Advanced Robotics and Person-Centered Technologies Unit of UCBM, under the direction of Prof Loredana Zollo with the research team Francesca Cordella, Francesco Scotto di Luzio and Christian Tamantini, has introduced a useful system for the transport of medical materials and the sanitization of environments in the red zone.
It is a robot that moves autonomously in the various areas of the Covid Center to transport all materials for clinical use up to a load of 5 kg, such as blood products or drugs, when healthcare workers are busy with other activities clinics. It is equipped with a mobile base and is capable of autonomously navigating in any environment, after registering the map. It is in fact able to orient itself, to identify obstacles along the way and to avoid them, after having received an indication of the destination from an operator with a simple click.
"A specific user interface has been developed for clinical operators, therefore for non-expert operators, which allows the individual to turn on the robotic instrument, identify its destination and allow it to move within the Centre" explains Prof. Zollo. The Robotics team took care of the software development of the platform but also of the physical preparation of the structure to make the tool optimal for transport and sanitation activities and above all capable of solving concrete problems in the work of healthcare professionals.
In addition to the transfer of drugs and aids, the robot is in fact able to sanitize work environments by transporting and activating germicidal UV lamps.
Perception, autonomous movement and structural solidity. These are the characteristics that make it unique in its kind: “it is an interesting robot because it is able to speak, to greet, to carry out its logistics functions and thanks to its work it has made the Campus Covid Center in step with the third millennium with all the technology centered on the person and on the patients”, commented the prof. Felice Eugenio Agrò, Director of the Campus Covid Center.
