Patient Care Automation: A Line-Following Robot for Efficient Medicine Delivery
摘要
This work aims to showcase the preliminary design, construction and evaluation of an autonomous line following robot which is to be used specifically for delivering goods in hospitals. The system is implemented using an Arduino Uno microcontroller, L298N motor driver and IR sensors used to enable the robot to track a given line at accurate directions. Small size and large-wheeled construction allows to move with relative ease through hospital corridors; a tray mounted at the back will be suitable for carrying small quantities of medication and other medical materials. In addition to improving smoothness and guaranteeing alignment to the target path, the described system utilises a PID like control algorithm. Simple trials done in a mock hospital setting showed that it had the abilities required to successfully maneuver through complicated routes and paths, thus having a likelihood to revolutionize the general deliveries in most hospitals by easing the general manual workload of the hospitals’ human staff. Further, the system can be enhanced by enabling wireless communication to monitor the robot from a distance, enhanced payload capacity and adding color line tracking to help navigate the robot for multiple destinations.