Industrial Automation Magazine India

Kerala government hospital deploys robot to serve COVID-19 patients

Published on : Monday 27-04-2020

The robot named KARMI-Bot will be used to assist patients at the Ernakulam government medical college hospitals Covid-19 isolation ward.

A government hospital in Ernakulam in Kochi has deployed a robot to serve food and medicines to Covid-19 patients with an aim to reduce risk of infections for doctors and health workers. The robot named KARMI-Bot will be used to assist patients at the medical college’s Covid-19 isolation ward, according to a press release from the Ernakulam district Public Relations Department. The robot is developed by ASIMOV Robotics, a company working under Maker Village of Kerala Start-Up Mission. The autonomous robot was donated to the Ernakulam government medical college hospital by well-known Malayalam actor Mohanlal’s Viswasanthi Foundation. Dispensing food, medicine, collecting the trash used by the patients, performing disinfection, enable video call between the doctor and patients, etc., are the main responsibilities of the robot. The purpose of this project is to limit the interaction between Covid-19 patients and health workers as well as to address the shortage of PPE kits by minimising their use.

Once configured, the robot will be able to perform its duties fully autonomously. Carrying a payload of up to 25kg, the robot is capable of achieving a maximum speed of 1m per sec. UV based disinfection and targeted detergent spray are the additional capabilities of KARMI-Bot.

ASIMOV Robotics aims to incorporate contactless routine temperature checking and automated charger docking to KARMI-Bot, once the spare parts are available after lock down.