Robots to the rescue-How robots are helping in today’s battle against corona
COVID-19, has been the new rhyme to every house and like an eerie, much-anticipated visitor we have found our means to put up with the distress and despair the pandemic has brought along with it. While for most of us, these days seem like an endless routine of tirelessly getting up and more helplessly going to bed, only to fall asleep after a couple of hours and somehow managing to fill the time in between.
Quarantine does make me wonder how I used fall asleep on my way back from college in that very rough bus ride, now I keep rolling in my bed until I finally fall asleep.
Despite all this misery, we are successfully surviving this plethora and are filled with gratitude to our folks out there who have gone a long way in helping us survive. It’s incredible to witness the breadth of initiatives being set up to defeat the virus-and its devastating effects-in record time pushing all of us, to show a level of tenacity never seen before.
Corona, being a virus which transmits immensely through contact, it’s almost right to say that the need of the hour is to decrease man to man contact and we reveling in the era of machines that are a close call to replacing humans, what more could we ask for? According to the Editorial Board of Science Robotics, robots can be a vital solution to do the seemingly “dark, dirty and dangerous job”. Countries around the world have been insanely brainstorming for cognitive ideas and tech solutions that possibly can help combat the virus by putting triage tools like AI and ML into defense.
Why robots could have an edge over humans in fighting this pandemic:
- Since Covid-19 spreads through contact, robots can prevent the same and moreover disinfect themselves with UV light.
- If robots are deployed to perform tasks like delivery of medicines, cleaning etc primary health workers will get more time to look after patients.
- They can work continuously for long hours without getting tired and taking breaks.
Let’s start with India…
Asimov Robotics, a start-up based in Kerala, has deployed robots at entrances of hospitals and other public places to dispense hand sanitizer and deliver public health messages about the virus. Robots developed by Asimov Robotics are also being deployed in hospitals to carry food and medicines, which eases the pressure on medical staff. Another star is Kannur’s very own ‘nightingale-19’ which helps medical staff carry food, medicines and essentials to COVID-19 patients.
Wondering why the bot is called ‘nightingale’? It could possibly be named after Florence Nightingale aka ‘Lady with the lamp’, known for pioneering modern nursing. She stressed upon one of the most relevant practices of today’s time- handwashing. The irony is that the pandemic has not only ruined her birth anniversary, which falls on May 12, but is also threatening her legacy.
China being among the first and most hard-hit regions, have used technology to their advantage. Several Chinese firms have developed automated technologies for contactless delivery, spraying disinfectants and performing basic diagnostic functions, to minimize the risk of cross-infection. Shenzhen-based Pudu Technology, which usually makes robots for the catering industry, has reportedly installed its machines in more than 40 hospitals around the country to help medical staff. The logistics affiliate of Alibaba, regularly referred to as China’s version of Amazon, utilizes robots in its warehouses and has been engaged with getting medical aid donations to areas of China, for example, Wuhan that needs them for testing and treatment of the coronavirus.
Fun-Byte: This amazing robot addresses itself as ‘cute peanut’ and offers fancy greetings like ‘Bon Appetit’!
Europe, which witnessed about 1,51,797 deaths have some innovative solutions in hand. They have a robot which aids the cleaning and disinfecting purpose by using UV light. UVD Robots, a Danish organization formed from Odense University Hospital and Blue Ocean Robotics, has been among those leading from the front, giving disinfection robots to China to help battle the spread of the virus. In Belgium, Zorabots has already donated 70 robots to residential care facilities and to help the elderly who find certain technologies to be too complex. This bot helps old people connect with their loved ones since there is a ban imposed on the visitors. According to the robotics firm, the 12 m tall butler-style machines can navigate rooms and connect video calls through Facebook and Messenger.
The video below is pretty breathtaking and it features the above mentioned UVD robots :
United States of America, is also adhering to all the above-mentioned use of robots. Also, doctors are trying to maximize patient care time by minimizing the time which is often wasted for seemingly futile crafts like charting up and note-making. Dr.Anita Montes, a medical doctor based in North-Carolina says voice-enabled Suki saves her “hours and hours a day” writing notes. The Moxi robot which was initially put to test in hospitals of Texas by Diligent robotics is now helping to battle the COVID-19 by focusing on relieving tasks from nurses in effect giving them more time to focus on patient treatment.
Fun-Byte: Moxi robot,which is filled with tons of handy skills can also mimic a human wink !
UAE has taken another mindblowing virtual initiative, which is designed to encourage young minds in the UAE to build new inventions to support COVID-19 response and recovery using its Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM)-based innovative DIY robotics kit which has been initiated by the startup ‘Junkbots’. In Tunisia, P Guard robots, manufactured by local company ENOVA can be operated remotely and come equipped with infrared cameras, which cover the robot's surroundings, as well as a thermal camera and a sound and light alarm system. The robots had initially been intended as surveillance tools and now to ensure that people stick to the lockdown protocol. Radhouane Ben Farhat, ENOVA’s commercial director explained, that they are able to operate through either WIFI or 4G at almost any geographic distance from the operator.
Fact-Byte: An innovative software named Bingli, which is a pretriage AI chatbot module, helps patients decide whether to see a doctor or not, since this outbreak has coincided with the flu season. People have a tendency to get confused if they are dealing with the corona infection or a regular flu. This initial screening helps decrease the load faced by primary care providers allowing them to spend more time with corona patients.
It’s believed that unity and harmony between people and AI has the potential to change the way we take care of one another. There are many more possibilities which haven’t yet been explored by the AI demigod, one of which is to design robots that could automate the collection of nasal swabs used to test for COVID-19 as it would drastically bring down human contact. Similarly, automated blood collection for tests could be of significant help, and researchers are already investigating using ultrasound to help robots locate veins to draw blood from.
Despite having robots to offer tons of help, convincing people(especially the older generation) that it’s safe to let a robot stick a swab up their nose or jab a needle in their arm might be a hard sell right now, and the collective task would probably be to enlighten them and build up their confidence.
Making robots closely resemble humans (humanoids), could be a solution. I personally feel people won’t refuse to get a blood test done by a David-8 lookalike.
COVID-19, has changed our routines and lifestyle and every country is putting their best resources to fight this pandemic and put an end to this. Let’s do our little part and for sure, the victory is ours.
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