Students develop remote controlled robot to assist patients with Covid-19

Engeneering students from the Ecole Superiore Polytechnique (ESP), in Dakar, have developed a medical robot designed to help medical professionals stay safe while treating patients with Covid-19. We've found that health care workers are highly exposed to Covid-19 because they don't have enough protective equipment," explaines Lamine Mouhamed Kébé, one of the coordinator of the project.

The device, called Docteur Car, can be remote controlled through an app, so it can be used to “reduce the interactions of doctors with patients with mild symptoms”, explains Mohamed Gueye, one of the inventors.

The device is equipped with a camera and, to better serve the patients, the students developed a software that makes the robot fluent in English, French, pulaar and wolof. The robot has two large shelves that can sed to take medication, food or personal items to the patients without the need for physical contact.

The first working prototype has been put to the test at the Hôpital National de Fann, the country’s reference medical facility for Covid-19.

The team is continuing to work on the device and is looking on the possibility of adding an articulated arm that would be able to measure the patient’s temperature or measure their blood pressure. They count on the support of the University, which is very proud of their initiative and hopes that the robot can be produced at a larger scale once the final prototype is ready. “(The robot) is far from being a gadget. We are a public institution. There is one concept that binds us all together, and that is service to the community", stated Ndiaga Ndiaye, faculty member at ESP.

Video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2684359475221988

Adapted from:
https://www.france24.com/en/20200513-senegal-s-engineering-students-desi...
https://bettertogether.intelcia.com/en/dr-car-senegalese-robot-nurses-st...
https://www.emergency-live.com/news/senegal-docteur-car-fights-covid-19-...