Team Name
HMETV
Timeline
Fall 2023 – Spring 2024
Students
- Muhiar, Youssef Hossam
- Guerrero Vester, Diego Antonio
- Murhekar, Akshaj
- Waghmare, Yash
- Kolade, Favour Oluwadamilola
Sponsor
Cooks Children Medical Center
Abstract
The Hospital Medical Equipment Transport Vehicle (HMETV) is a pioneering step forward in healthcare logistics and support. Designed to enhance operational efficiency and support nursing staff, the HMETV automates the delivery of medical supplies within hospital settings, addressing critical needs for time management and patient care.
Background
The project aims to address crucial challenges in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) by developing a system that optimizes the supply retrieval process. The primary goal is to minimize nurse trips to the supply room, thus improving time management and patient care quality. By streamlining supply retrieval, the system enhances emergency response times, benefiting both nurses and patients in PICUs.
Purpose and Use:
The proposed system aims to streamline supply retrieval within PICUs by:
- Reducing Nurse Trips: Minimizing the frequency of trips nurses make to the supply room for critical medical supplies.
- Enhancing Time Management: Improving nurse efficiency by saving time for more critical patient care tasks.
- Improving Emergency Response: Decreasing response times during emergencies by ensuring essential supplies are readily available.
- Optimizing Resource Utilization: Ensuring efficient use of medical supplies and nurses’ time to maintain high patient care standards.
Intended Audience:
The system targets healthcare institutions managing PICUs, including:
- Hospital Administrators: Responsible for enhancing healthcare facility management and resource utilization in PICUs.
- Nursing Staff: Registered nurses and healthcare professionals benefitting from reduced supply retrieval time, allowing more focus on patient care.
Project Requirements
1. Laboratory Equipment Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) Procedures: Ensures that fabrication equipment is used according to OSHA standard LOTO procedures to prevent unauthorized use and enhance safety.
2. National Electric Code (NEC) Wiring Compliance: Requires that all electrical wiring complies with the National Electric Code to ensure safety from electrical hazards.
3. RIA Robotic Manipulator Safety Standards: Mandates compliance with ANSI/RIA safety standards for robotic manipulators used, emphasizing the use of collaborative robots to minimize hazards.
4. Data Encryption: All data transmitted or stored by the HMETV must be encrypted to safeguard sensitive information against unauthorized access.
5. Authentication and Authorization: Robust authentication methods, such as multi-factor authentication, are required to control access to the HMETV’s systems.
6. *Security Updates and Patch Management: Regular updates and patches are necessary to secure the HMETV against cyber threats.
7. Secure Communication Protocols: Communication involving the HMETV must use secure protocols to protect data from interception and ensure integrity.
8. Automated Supply Delivery: The vehicle must autonomously handle the retrieval and delivery of medical supplies to designated areas, crucial for operational efficiency.
9. Emergency Response: In emergencies, the vehicle must prioritize and expedite the delivery of critical supplies, directly impacting patient care and outcomes.
10. Route Selection and Navigation: The vehicle must efficiently navigate hospital environments using a sophisticated control system that allows real-time route adjustments.
System Overview
To address the problem of inefficient supply retrieval in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), we propose the implementation of an Autonomous Supply Delivery System (ASDS). This system will streamline the process of delivering essential medical supplies to the patient’s bedside, reducing the workload on nurses and improving response times during emergencies.
Results
The hospital is a place of safety, so safety precautions were a priority in this project. Our goal was to make sure that our robot would not collide with anyone or anything. To achieve this, the RPLidar A1 M8 was our best choice.
The RPLidar A1 M8 sensor is used for object detection. The RPLidar is a 360 degree laser range scanner that uses laser triangulation ranging to measure distance data in over 2,000 times per second. This ensures that the transport vehicle can avoid running into people and damaging hospital equipment.
ROS is a collection of open-source tools and libraries that makes interacting with the RPLidar sensor possible. ROS stands for Robot Operating System but is not an actual operating system. It provides functionality for hardware abstraction, device drivers, and communication between processes over multiple machines.
The lidar sensor is placed in the front of the transport vehicle as it would need to detect objects in the direction that it will be going. With the raw data from the sensor, we can program the motors to turn to avoid the obstacles efficiently. The program determines how close the object is to the robot and decides if we need to make a full stop. If there is enough space in the surrounding area, the robot is programmed to instead go around and continue its path.
Design by Rohan:
“Designing HMETV was a journey that started with understanding the real-world requirements of hospital settings. First and foremost, our vehicle needed to be capable of moving over 40 pounds of medical supplies, mirroring the weight capacity of traditional manual carts used in hospitals. Not just that, but it was crucial for our design to blend into the hospital environment seamlessly. We aimed for a user-friendly look with a shape similar to existing carts, ensuring familiarity and ease of integration. (15 sec)
To propel HMETV, we selected GoBila 5204 Series Yellow Jacket Planetary Gear Motors, known for their high torque density that can handle a higher torque in a relatively small volume. Aditionally, its higher versatility, adaptivity, durability and smooth operation makes it more efficient than traditional motors. The structure of our vehicle is built from aluminum extrusions. This choice was deliberate; cutting and assembling these extrusions in the engineering makerspace gave us unparalleled flexibility in design, allowing us to tailor HMETV precisely to our needs, far beyond what off-the-shelf parts could offer. (15-30)
For mobility, we equipped HMETV with four six inch mecanum wheels at each corner. These wheels are the heart of our vehicle’s agility. Utilizing differential steering, they enable HMETV to move at about 3-5 miles per hour – a speed that mirrors human walking. This speed ensures safety within the hospital corridors while maintaining efficiency. The unique advantage of mecanum wheels lies in their ability to offer a short turning radius and the capability to rotate around its own axis. In a hospital’s often cramped spaces, this flexibility is crucial, allowing HMETV to navigate tight corners and confined areas with ease, without the complexity of traditional steering systems often observed in traditional vehicles. In essence, our design choices were guided by the principles of safety, efficiency, and adaptability, ensuring HMETV can truly make a difference in the healthcare environment.”(15 sec)
(“Embarking on the robot, our mission was clear: create a vehicle that efficiently transports over 40 pounds of medical supplies while complementing the hospital environment. We’ve achieved this by combining a familiar cart-like design with user-friendly features for seamless integration.
We powered our robot with the GoBila 5204 Series Planetary Gear Motors. Their high torque density at 223 rpm provides us an impressive torque output of 38.0 kg.cm, making them far superior to standard motors. The aluminum extrusions used in the vehicle’s structure allowed us to customize designs beyond what prefabricated parts can provide, ensuring precision and flexibility.
The core of the robots agility comes from its mecanum wheels, providing differential steering and speeds that average 3-5mph, ensuring safety and efficiency. The unique advantage of mecanum wheels lies in their ability to offer a short turning radius and the capability to rotate around its own axis. They provide exceptional agility in confined areas, essential for navigating busy hospital corridors”)
Mobility and Electronics by Akshaj:
“Building on the design foundations Rohan discussed, at the core of our mobility solution are four GoBilda motors, one attached to each wheel, chosen for their robustness and reliability. To manage these powerhouses, we’ve integrated four Hiletgo BTS7960 H-Bridge Motor Drivers into our design. These motor drivers allow us to control the high current needed by the GoBilda motors with precision and safety.
Programming and control of these motor drivers are handled by an Arduino Mega that listens for commands, which, in turn, is connected to a Raspberry Pi. Two PWM ports, one for forward rotation and one for reverse connect to each H-bridge with 3 other 5V connections and one ground. In our picture, there is a potentiometer which in our project is being overridden by digitally addressing the power to be sent to each motor. The H-bridges accept a value from 0 to 1023, values less than 512, the value for zero power, lead to a reverse rotation, and values more than 512 lead to forward rotation. We manipulate this value according to our requirement for precise movement.
To power our sophisticated electronics and mobility systems, we’ve chosen a 12V 20AH lead-acid battery, ensuring that HMETV can operate over extended periods without the need for frequent recharging.”
Additional Hardware for Autonomous Control by Yash:
“Transitioning from the core mobility components that Akshaj introduced, let’s explore the technology that empowers our robot with autonomous navigation capabilities, making it a self-sufficient helper in hospital environments.
At the forefront of our autonomous control system is a Raspberry Pi 5, continuously scanning the environment for ArUCo tags with its two RGB cameras. This setup ensures accurate navigation and interaction with the hospital environment.
We’ve also designed a dedicated app that functions as a real-time tracking system for the robot. As our robot passes each ArUCo tag, the corresponding location on the map lights up which helps nurses instantly track its location, and with a simple tap, call the robot to deliver supplies straight from the equipment room to them, wherever they are. It’s convenience and care, combined.
We’d like to extend our gratitude to Cook Children’s Medical Center and our mentor, Dr. Davis, for their guidance and support. We’re also immensely thankful to the CSE Department and Dr. McMurrough, as well as the Biomedical Department, especially Dr. Jaworski, for their continuous assistance and encouragement throughout this journey.
This journey has been incredibly educational, and we’re excited about the potential impact of our project. We believe HMETV will make a significant difference in healthcare delivery, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to share our vision.
Future Work
Integrating the lidar sensor with the wheels through the raspberry pi as well as obstacle avoidance.
Cable Management as well as working on User Interface for the nurses.
Adding drawers and sliders to robot as well as making edges smooth.
Making the robot autonomous, mounting the raspberry pi display to the chassis
Project Files
Project Charter (link)
System Requirements Specification (link)
Architectural Design Specification (link)
Detailed Design Specification (link)
Poster (link)
References
- Holland, J.; Kingston, L.; McCarthy, C.; Armstrong, E.; O’Dwyer, P.; Merz, F.; McConnell, M. Service Robots in the Healthcare Sector. Robotics 2021, 10, 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics10010047
- Kyrarini, M.; Lygerakis, F.; Rajavenkatanarayanan, A.; Sevastopoulos, C.; Nambiappan, H.R.; Chaitanya, K.K.; Babu, A.R.; Mathew, J.; Makedon, F. A Survey of Robots in Healthcare. Technologies 2021, 9, 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies9010008
- Alvey, R. (2021). Robotics in Healthcare. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics (OJNI), 25(2). https://www.himss.org/resources/online-journal-nursing-informatics
- Drukarch, H. (2021). On Healthcare Robots: Concepts, definitions, and considerations for healthcare robot governance. ArXiv. /abs/2106.03468
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