'Maitri' robot to serve COVID-19 patients in Vijayawada

City-based Circuit Grid Electronics and Harsha Academy has made the 3.5-feet tall robot which has separate racks for food, water and medicine and can also be operated with a phone.

VIJAYAWADA: Soon, patients undergoing treatment at Covid-19 isolation wards  in Vijayawada will be served food, water and medicines by robots, designed and developed by city-based Circuit Grid Electronics and Harsha Academy. The move aims at reducing the risk of the infection spreading to hospital and sanitation staff.

The developers met Krishna collector A Md Imtiaz at his camp office here on Sunday and demonstrated the functioning of one such robot, named Maitri. V Durga Vara Prasad, the firm’s head, told TNIE that ‘Maitri’ is a 3.5-feet tall robot and has separate racks for food, water and medicine. It can be operated with a smartphone connected to it through wi-fi and is in a 20-feet radius of the robot. 

"Maitri is equipped with a LCD screen that allows doctors and paramedical staff to interact with the patients from a distance," Vara Prasad added. The robot can move 360 degrees and be easily sanitised after each use. Once fully charged, its battery can last up to eight hours. “For over a year, we have been creating awareness on robotics in educational institutions in the city.

For Maitri and robots like it, we made necessary modifications that will help the doctors and hospital staff in taking care of the patients in isolation wards, without putting themselves in harm's way. It costs around Rs 80,000 to develop one such robot. As part of our social responsibility, we donated a robot to the district administration to fight the virus.

In two weeks’ time, we will hand over one more robot to the authorities”, Vara Prasad added. The robot will help minimise caretakers’ and health workers exposure to patients and their contact, said Imtiaz after formally launching the robot. On the occasion, he lauded the efforts of the company for taking the initiative.