Design And Implementation Of A Telepresence Robot For Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The word "Tele" means distant, and the word "Presence" refers to the state of being present in a place. It is almost like being teleported to another place. Telepresence is a medium in which transducers, such as video cameras and microphones, replace the participants' corresponding senses and enable real-time two-way collaboration between people who are not in the same location. They can communicate as if they are in the same room and easily share data. Nowadays telepresence robots are used in different sectors. This kind of robot uses virtual reality implementations with human-system interfaces, communication technologies, and robotics and is used for tour guides, night watchmen, factory inspectors, Mining, bomb disposal, military operations, the rescue of victims from fire, toxic atmospheres, deep-sea exploration, or even hostage situations. It is also used for social interactions during pandemic crises such as COVID-19. Covid is an infectious disease. It can spread from one person to another person. That is why people should maintain social distance and protect themselves from being infected. Our prototype can help people maintain social distance and it can also be for medical purposes during the lockdown and covid treatment. Our prototype contains a raspberry pi, a motor driver, a Pi camera module, and other components. The primary work of this prototype is to perform visual communication through video conferencing and share information with others. Here we send a command from the computer to the prototype and we can remotely control its movement. The raspberry pi works as the prototype's heart. It tracks all the movement of the prototype. Besides medical use, it can use for personal use. In this lockdown situation, people are not only being sick physically but also mentally. Being in lockdown people fells lonely and this loneliness causes different physiological sicknesses or disorders. Our prototype can reduce this loneliness by creating social interaction by video conference, this way people can share their emotions with others. This way they can reduce their loneliness. So this robot can use both medical purposes and personal use. This robot will be able to help a lot of people in many situations. This robot will be light, cheap, small, and easy to operate so anyone can operate this robot easily without any extra knowledge.