A scientist from Tripura University has developed a robot from locally available and scrap materials to take care of the Covid-19 infected patients from a distant place, an innovation which would come handy for the frontline healthcare professionals working in the highly contagious environment.
The remote-controlled robot ‘Covid-19 Warbot’ can carry 10-15 kilograms of materials, has an operational range of 15-20 metres, and can deliver food, medicines and other essential items to the viral infected patients.
The robot, regulated by a transmitter and a receiver, can work for around 90 minutes after the lead acid rechargeable battery is given five hour’s charge.
“I have just spent Rs 25,000 and took a week’s time to make the robot. Due to the ongoing lockdown, I could not collect the latest and modern devices and tools from outside Tripura, hence I have to depend on the local and scrap materials. I used the vital receiver of the robot from an old toy of the son of my relative,” said scientist Harjeet Nath, holder of the prestigious young scientist award in 2018.
He said that the robot can be of enormous help to the doctors, nurses and other health workers to deal with the patients of the highly contagious novel coronavirus.
In the robot, Nath has installed a two-way communication device of a Wi-Fi-controlled camera with inbuilt microphone and speaker to help both the doctors or nurses and patients to communicate directly with each other maintaining a safest distance.
Presently, frontline health workers including the doctors and nurses are at the risk of getting infected with the highly infectious virus as they have to closely take care of the Covid-19 patients.
Nath palns to add many more skills including thermal screening of suspected patients, sanitising the hospital floors to the existing robot to make the machine many more other health related jobs besides purposeful.