Role of Roboticists during COVID-19
This image released courtesy of Misty Robotics shows Misty, a programmable personal robot, in December 2020 in Boulder, Colorado.
The current COVID-19 pandemic situation makes the whole world face unexpected challenges in moving forward in every aspect. COVID-19 has changed the world in all aspects of its life. It is the same for all the industries as well. Many industries are facing new challenges providing an opportunity to industrialists and researchers to initiate innovative research and development activities to meet the demand of the industries. Engineers have a significant role to play in this situation for the betterment of the world. Research, development and innovation will need a significant transformation and engineers should be the driving force in this transformation. Engineers and engineering researchers should focus mainly on the following aspects:
- Identifying current innovation challenges
- Recognise the motivation for current research and development
- Prioritising the fields and areas of research and development relevant to the situation
- Deciding the engagement with industries and government for the research and development
In the current situation, robotic-related research and development can be identified as one of the prioritised areas since robots can help to reduce the spread of the pandemic and make the life of the people more comfortable. In this context, it is important to know the applications of robots during and after COVID-19 and the role of roboticists in these periods.
Robots can be used for a variety of new tasks during the pandemic and post-pandemic society. The robotic industry in a post COVID-19 society will be flourishing by creating new opportunities for robotics technology. Robots are now used to maintain social distancing by being an intermediate to keep the space between persons and replacing human from certain employments. They create awareness on social distancing and remind if a person violates social distancing guidelines. Robots help disinfect hospitals, medical centres and nursing homes. They assist in the routine monitoring of patients and lifting and repositioning patients. Medicine, laboratory samples, medical reports and other necessary items can be delivered inside the hospitals using robots. Robots perform a wide range of tasks in preparing orders, performing inventory checks, bagging, delivering groceries in supermarkets. They help with a faster and more efficient shopping experience for the customer. Robots are extensively used in households to make personal life more comfortable, safe and easy. Different types of robots will be used for cleaning, vacuum cleaners, food preparation and many other activities in households in different countries. Aerial robots are also used during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been used for spraying disinfection, temperature sensing of humans in crowded places, controlling traffic and crowd movements, and broadcasting. Robots are used in many industries than ever before and they are carrying out several day-to-day services in the transportation sector, groceries, supermarkets and fast-food chains frequently. The use of robots will gradually be increased to improve their efficiency in warehouses.
As the world continues to battle with the pandemic humans should work together with robots for their protection. Roboticists should play a vibrant role to help various industries during and after the pandemic. They should focus more on initiating and performing the research and developments which helps to prevent the spread of COVID-19, developing new products, especially cheaper products to make the people more comfortable during the stressful pandemic period, creating awareness amongst the public about the use of robots for pandemics and supporting medical professionals and healthcare workers. While doing so they should identify challenges for their activities and recognise the motivation for research and development. Furthermore, they should customise their research and development activities according to the situation with the intention of serving humanity.