“Robotipuli” - Therapeutic Robot

The Team

Team lead:

Ami Ekev

Team members:

Ronen B

Arnon G

Jenia P

Anatoli T

Sergey

Ohad I

Ori G

Dan M

Tomer G

Zohar S

Slava P

The Challanges

One of the most pervasive problems in hospitals across the globe tackling the COVID-19 pandemic is the issue of medical staff becoming infected while treating infected patients. The team was posed with the challenge of finding a way to carry out basic patient care responsibilities while minimizing contact between medical staff and infected patients.

The Solution

The team has conceived and developed a robotic assistant - the “Robotipuli” (meaning robot carer) which has been programmed to perform many of the basic tasks usually carried out by medical professionals. Putting Robotipuli to work means that exposure of medical staff across the board (including doctors and nurses) to contaminated patients can be drastically reduced.  

The tasks that Robotipuli can currently handle (more features to be added in future) include:  

1. Serving food

2. Clearing garbage

3. Dispensing medicines

4. “Visiting” patients

5. Accompanying and assisting a staff member (instead of a human assistant)

Current status

The team designed and built two initial prototypes (at Rafael). Following a preliminary trial at Assuta Hospital, Ashdod, improvements were made, including the addition of a control unit, a drug dispenser, and a tray. 

The team also refined the initial model by testing and developing a different platform that offers more flexibility and a broader range of functions. This new model was tested and is now in use at Asaf Harofe Hospital.

What’s Next

Following on from initial successes, the team is now working on adding more features to be incorporated in future models.