Nightingale-19 Robot helps doctors treat COVID-19 patients | Fusion - WeRIndia

To protect healthcare workers while treating COVID-19 patients, the professors and students of the Vimal Jyothi College of Engineering developed Nightingale-19 robot.

This robot serves meals and water to patients in the hospitals. It enables patients to chat with doctors remotely.

The robot can hold items up to 25 kg. It can serve meals and one-litre water bottles to 15 patients at a time. The robot has a video calling unit for the patients to talk to doctors remotely.

The Nightingale-19 robot was inaugurated last week at Kannur Medical College Hospital. It has been functioning there since then.

The team made the robot using a microcontroller board, a car motor, a car’s wiper motor, and a racing drone’s camera.

Professor Sunil Paul is one of the designers in the team. He said that they wanted to develop an innovative ventilator initially. But before proceeding, they visited the Kannur Medical College Hospital and asked the staff what kind of help they needed exactly.

The healthcare staff replied that it would be a great help if the number of visits to the patient’s room could be reduced.

The doctors, nurses and paramedical staff have to visit patients several times to provide food, water and refreshments and for regular check-ups. They have to wear a PPE kit each time they visit.

So, the team of designers rethought about their innovation and developed a robot to visit the patient regularly.

Prof TD John led the team. The team designed its first prototype of the robot in the beginning of April. This prototype was a miniature of the original design, which could carry three bottles.

The team wants to modify the design to make it more user-friendly based on the feedback. Instead of metal, they want to use MDF (Medium Density Fibre) Board to be disinfected easily without any corrosion.

Image Reference: Thebetterindia