The iRobot RP-VITA
By Gavin Andler
Human Function/Task the Robot performs
The iRobot RP-VITA is a medical robot that is used as a remote presence for patient care and care delivery.
Where the robot is used
The RP-VITA is used in hospitals around the world to help with care delivery and patient care. The user is usually on a computer to control the robot.
Work envelope
The RP-VITA has a 360 degree work envelope to move and turn the camera and screen,the flexible joints are in the "neck" to move the screen around in 360 degrees and to look up and down. This gives the user the ability to look anywhere.
Is the Robotic end effector multi-functional?
The answer is No, to top it off there are no arms on the device that interacts with the environment.
How the iRobot RP-VITA is taught to perform the task
The robot is programmed to move with a controller and programmed to keep data and store it with a touch-screen interface on the physical robot that the nurses can interact with to determine the patient goals.
Sensors on the iRobot RP-VITA
The robot has a camera and a touch-screen as the sensors on the robot.
The camera is used to show the user (the doctor controlling the iRobot RP-VITA) the faces and/or patient(s) on the user's screen. the touch-screen is used by the people touching the physical robot to interact and even call the parents of the patient.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages: A remote presence of a doctor, can store data of many patients, can contact parent, nurses can interact with it, user can see the patient and or surroundings to help move around.
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Disadvantages: if network is bad it could give bad feedback to both the user and the nurses and patient, limited to storing data moving head and neck moving around room and calling/contacting parents or gaurdings of the patient.
Impact the iRobot RP-VITA had on society
The iRobot RP-VITA gave a positive impact, due to being able to communicate with nurses from afar. it also gaves doctors who had to go travel be able to work in the hometown virtually.
Jobs/Careers the iRobot RP-VITA made to provide more employment
The iRobot RP-VITA created more jobs for doctors, since there were now able to communicate with nurses and patients from afar. The iRobot RP-VITA also created jobs for the industry, such jobs like building the robot and repairing the damaged ones.
How may the iRobot RP-VITA be altered to perform more or different tasks in the future?
The RP-VITA may be altered to be able to perform the care or perform the surgery remotely from a different state or even a different country. The iRobot RP-VITA can even be altered to provide multiple pressences at once, with one user controlling the robot.