Professor invents robot to detect coronavirus symptoms
ajman — An engineer with Ajman University (AU) has come out with a smart robot that can remotely detect Covid-19 symptoms.
Mohamed Baloola, deputy director, innovation centre, said he has been working round-the-clock over the last two weeks to invent the robot which is the “need of the hour”.
Baloola, also a biomedical engineering teaching assistant, explained that the robot is designed to reduce the infection risk of this lethal disease. “The robot, meant to distantly detect Covid-19 patients, is aimed to protect all workers on the frontlines, mainly those in the health sector, against the coronavirus.”
The self-operating robot can be run via a remote control, while the data collected can be seen and checked online.
“The robot can be used in all airports, outlets, shopping centres, hospitals, clinics, universities, schools, metro stations, and crowded places.”
Baloola pointed out that the robot, operating on the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), includes a variety of sensors that can precisely detect Covid-19 symptoms, including fever, cough, heart rate, temperature, and humidity.
“It is also equipped with a sophisticated thermal camera and two contactless temperature sensors
that can detect body temperature up to two meters away.”
The robot further detects breathing difficulties with an SPO2 sensor which estimates the amount of oxygen in blood, he said. “There is also another sensor for detecting coughing.”
The robot, fitted with extra sensors for detecting heart rate, environment temperature and humidity, has a camera that transmits live video and provides an enhanced bi-directional communication, Baloola explained.
“The robot, equipped with an auto sanitiser unit and an obstacle avoidance system, has an audio alarm that helps observe the physical distancing required, while the AI-operated voice assessment detects patients through their voices.”