The world is taking over new initiatives to control COVID-19 spread among doctors. Hospitals all over the world are now turning to robotics to minimize contact with COVID-19 patients. India is also now switching to various technological methods.  AIIMS, Delhi is now working on testing Humanoid ELF that is a 92cm tall robot. It will monitor the COVID – 19 wards.  The robot can function freely and can travel at a speed of 2.9 kmph.

It has in-built 3d HD cameras to record all the activities. This will allow doctors and nurses to attend patients remotely. This will also enable communication between patients and their acquaintances like friends and family members via a screen.

The Humanoid ELF is developed by Milagrow, a homegrown robotics company. Elf uses technology like LIDAR (light detection and ranging) and SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) that can detect objects coming in its path thus avoiding any collision, allowing free movement of the robot. 

For doing further customization, the humanoid has more than 60 sensors and uses an open API allowing further changes.  The Robo runs on a battery and has an auto-charge feature. The battery can last up to 8 hours.

Rajeev Karwal, the founder chairman of Milagrow said in a press statement “Milagrow is very happy to support AIIMS in its effort to fight the pandemic and will work closely to develop more products based on the feedback of actual conditions. As the outbreak continues to rise alarmingly, the robots will help check the virus spread and protect the doctors, nurses, and caregivers from getting infected,” 

Adding to that, AIIMS will also soon have Milagrow iMap 9, which is a floor cleaning robot. Imap9 can also move on its own and will be deployed for cleaning and sanitization of the floors. With no human intervention, the spread will be minimal. This humanoid will be using sodium hypochlorite chemical to kill COVID -19 germs from the floor as ICMR has recommended. 

The main purpose of IMAP 9 is not only cleaning but also mopping floors in real-time. It uses real-time terrain recognition technology.

Since the pandemic has an outbreak, Robots have been deployed across countries like Italy, China, and the United States in hospitals for assisting patients.

In India, apart from Delhi, Jaipur is also directing robotics facilitation in hospitals. This will facilitate the delivery of food and medicines to patients in quarantine. 

Also, a Kochi based Asimov Robotics will soon be deploying an autonomous robot to hospitals. This is not the first that Indian Medical Facilities are using robotic technology in the country. Previously also our doctors have used Robots for facilitating complex operation. For example in 2018, doctors at a hospital in Gujrat remotely perform a heart surgery of a patient. Similarly, in 2019, in Chandigarh, a robot performs surgery on a baby born without a food pipe.