Development of Contactless Delivery Service Robot with Modular Working Platform in Isolation Wards

Abstract

Preventing cross-infection is crucial for robots designed to assist medical staff in isolation wards during outbreaks of infectious diseases like COVID-19. This paper proposes a modular robotic system with a working platform and a mobile base to prevent cross-infection during item delivery and waste transport. An alignment structure for combining the two platforms is introduced, and a marker map and barcode-based destination input system were developed to allow medical staff without specialized robotics knowledge to use the system without additional training. The effectiveness of this robot's service was evaluated through a System Usability Scale (SUS) test with twenty medical staff working in isolation wards, achieving an average score of 77.12. This indicates a high level of usability, suggesting that this robot can significantly contribute to safe and efficient hospital operations during pandemic situations.