Robot nurses may soon help combat COVID-19 in India

The state government of Tamil Nadu in southern India is testing a robot nurse, who can minimise human contact with coronavirus patients.

Footage from March 17, show the robot nurse, named ‘dokat Aura’ who can deliver medicine and food to patients in isolation wards of hospitals, and communicate with patients through a series of simple phrases.

According to local media, she runs along photosensitive strips on the ground.

With optical or magnetic sensors, she knows exactly where to stop in the wards and return to her base after the work is done.

Aravind, COO of Dotworld Technologies, which makes these robots said: “dokat Aura can support those suffering from mild infection all by herself.

They can receive their medicine and food from her and their dosage can be monitored with inbuilt cameras." “Robots can reduce the risks faced by doctors and nurses in treating COVID-19 patients,” he added.

Once India lifts the current lockdown, Dotworld Technologies plans to make 100 robots in 45 days and then around 100 robots a month.

They also plan to make ‘dokat Cura,’ a UV sterilisation robot that can be used to disinfect public places with UV rays.

These battery-operated robots can be controlled with a remote and operated from a safe distance.

Dotworld Technologies makes several technology products including a patrolling robot for the security industry.