Kerala students develop robot to serve food, medicines to Covid patients
MALAPPURAM: A team of eight students from the MEA Engineering College, Perinthalmanna, is set to conduct the trial run of a robot they have created. What’s special? Their robot, named Humbot, can help frontline Covid warriors -- nurses, doctors and other healthcare staff -- avoid being exposed to the virus. Humbot can distribute medicine and food to a minimum of six patients on a ‘rounds’ inside a Covid-19 ward. And it can disinfect itself before returning to a healthcare worker staying within the green zone. The doctor or health care worker can also video chat with patients through a camera fixed atop the robot. The handler can control Humbot from a distance of up to 900 metres.
The trial run of the technology, developed for the Kerala health department with a fund of `50,000 from the National Health Mission, will be conducted at the Government District Hospital, Perinthalmanna soon, possibly next week. The superintendent of the hospital, Amanulla C, said it would be an advantage if healthcare staff can avoid going to red zones wearing PPE kits in a Covid centre.
“The students showed us the features of the robot. We will soon conduct a trial run in the hospital. If it proves satisfactory, we will recommend it for other Covid treatment centres in the district,” he said.Mohamed Uvaize, the leader of the students’ group, said Humbot can be controlled with a laptop. “We have developed a software to control the robot’s movements. We can also develop the technology required to control it using a mobile app or a joystick.
The robot can be disinfected inside a tent through a fogging method, which health experts have approved,” he said. The team -- also comprising Mohamed Zakeer, Muhammed Mansoor, Muhammed Niyas, Hassan Rizwan, Amjad Marathumpally, Munwir Ali and Muhammed Ameer -- is confident of reducing the production cost of the robot from ` 50,000 to `35,000.