nursebot
Latest
Speci-Minder delivers patient samples autonomously
Although the mainstream media would have you to believe that the nursing field is a great one to get into, we're starting to doubt the longevity of RNs here of late. Of course, there's no substitute (right?) for a nurse's touch, but just after we got wind that the IWARD nursebot would be handling the third shift duties and the HOSPI would handle all the bloodwork, there's not too many more aspects that need TLC. Unfortunately for humans, the Speci-Minder is stepping up to the plate to handle one more task, as it autonomously delivers medical samples to laboratories, enabling the staff to "spend more time with their patients." This collaborative effort between CSS Robotics and MobileRobots is already loose in Christiana Hospital near Wilmington, DE, and it can supposedly "adjust to changing environments sans wires, reflectors, or traditional guidance," allowing it to find its own way around without crashing into flesh and blood co-workers or structural obstacles. Apparently, the bots are ready and willing to go to work for your hospital ward for an undisclosed up-front charge, but we seriously doubt these poor machines will ever see a dime for their efforts. [Warning: PDF read link]
Ubiko nursebot retasked with sniffing out fires
One of the many ways in which robotic laborers are superior to their human counterparts is their ability to be easily re-purposed: one day you're an underpaid, under-appreciated nursebot chain-smoking with your co-workers in the break room, and the next day you're equipped with some new peripherals and tasked with ratting out those very same smokers along with other potential fire hazards. Such is the life of a Tmsuk-manufactured robot named Ubiko, who was snatched away from its budding career as an unassuming hospital receptionist by researchers from Kyushu University and the Kanazawa Institute of Technology, and retrofitted with a unique olfactory sensor programmed to recognize the distinctive odors of smoke and ash. This new electronic sniffer allows Ubiko to pick up scents too faint for the human proboscis to detect, giving it a "nose up" when it comes to tracking down small fires before they turn into raging infernos. Since the bot isn't equipped with any actual firefighting paraphernalia, its only job is wirelessly alerting authorities to potential problems and then scooting away before it melts into the floor; these so-called "authorities" then have the grueling task of pressing yet another button to deploy either an Anna Konda or SACI bot to make short work of the lit candle or smoldering cigarette butt.[Via Pink Tentacle]
IWARD nursebot looks to clean hospitals, fend off intruders
We all know security gets a little heavy eyed when the wee hours of the morning roll around, and we highly doubt the janitorial staff is humming along at maximum efficiency when the residents are snoozing away, so implementing a robot to tackle both tasks seems quite practical. The IWARD project hopes to develop a "nursebot" that wears several hats, and can handle cleaning up spills, utilizing face and voice recognition technology to "communicate with patients and spot unauthorized visitors," and even working in "swarms" to distribute tasks between the robotic crew. Researchers are aiming to have a three bot prototype ready to rock by 2010, and want to integrate sensors and camera to avoid collisions whilst "traveling along high-speed lanes in the hospital corridors." Better steer grandma's wheelchair clear of the robotic raceway, eh?[Via TechieDiva]
Meet Penelope, the new medical assistant robot
Just in case EMMA the nursebot didn't do it for you, there's a new medical assistant bot in town, codename: Penelope. This metallic medico may have all the personality of a swinging desk lamp, but it may also save your life. Penelope is trained to respond to a surgeon's commands for specific tools; if a surgeon calls out for a scalpel, then Penelope will hand it to her. Or if that's too practical for you, try Robotic Surgial Tech's explanation that its robot is like an "Instrument Server." As the company states on its site: "Much as a web server manages and serves web pages, Penelope manages and serves surgical instruments. Penelope processes requests for instruments as they come in. The instrument is located, fetched, and delivered." So does that mean if multiple surgeons ask for multiple items then it will suffer a distributed denial of service attack and start to 404?[Via Robot Gossip]
