Biomedical Engineering Students Built a Game Changing Medical Robot!
Meet our Biomedical Engineering Capstone Group: Zina, Andres, Megan and Domenic (not imaged).
In the simplest form, can you explain your project?
So just to leave it in the most simple form, our project created a robot that is able to travel from point A to point B, without human assistance. So without being controlled by anyone, just using 3D imaging.
After the robot moved around the environment, that's how it creates a map that would show up on the PC for the user. And so that map is created with the sensors by being able to sense the obstacles in the room. Then the user is able to click on a location on the desktop for that map, and then the robot will make its way there.
How does your robot work?
So the way that it works is that we have kind of two main systems, one of which is run on a desktop PC, using a virtual machine. And then the other system being the robot. And the way that it works is that the PC and the Raspberry Pi on board the robot communicates via Wi-Fi and SSH, and from there, we're able to control the robot on the actual virtual on the PC, in the virtual environment and run commands, and give the robot instructions for it to navigate from the PC. And then over the Wi-Fi the robot will get these commands and enact them in real time. And the reason why we went through this setup is because a Raspberry Pi or an Arduino, which we also used to help control the motors, they don't have enough computing power to, calculate the cost map and understand exactly how to navigate the environment and, get all this sensor data and process it properly. So we ended up going with this kind of two brain setup so that we can leave the more complicated calculations for the PC while having a small brain on the actual robot to help with the actual navigation and with controlling the motors and with controlling the lidar itself.
What are some of the key features of your robotic porter?
So the main key features in terms of the mechanical design was that we had a closing door, which is important in a hospital environment to keep any, you know, just random passer bys in the hospital from opening and getting the supplies.
Another key feature is the wheels. Those were a really important feature that we found out as we went along. We actually didn't think that the wheel choice was going to be as important at the beginning. But then as we worked through the project, we realized that the material of those can really affect how the prototype turns. We had to make a lot of adjustments on the placement as well as the material.
What software was used to run the system?
We used a variety of software. We started with two virtual machines on Ubuntu. And from there we are able to use the robot operating system or ROS, specifically, we used ROS 2 and from there, it comes with a bunch of different tools like Arviz, gazebo for simulations that allow us to visualize the robot's environment in real time. We used a variety of code, including Python and XML, and we were able to create both, simulation environment for the robot and to be able to track the real time environment using the sensors like the Lidar and the camera.
How does your robotic porter differ from what is on the market currently?
It's different from other robotic porters in certain environments, because in a hospital setting there's certain settings that need to be met. With our original plan our robot will have a locking door mechanism that could be controlled by an app in the hospitals so that when the materials are being transferred from one room to another, there's a certain one time passcode so that certain medications are being delivered to the right patients.
What courses throughout your undergrad helped you prepare for this project?
We took a medical robotics course during fourth year, which was actually a really good introduction to what it's like to work with robots.
We also took some electrical engineering courses. I think one of the best parts about the biomedical engineering program is that you do get a lot of different perspectives and you do get a lot of different disciplines. So you have some biology courses, but you also have mechanical engineering courses, computer engineering courses, and electrical engineering courses.So you get a lot of different perspectives.
Going into this project, we had a good foundation in terms of a good understanding of the way that a lot of these things were going to work. And it was just doing our own research and moving towards creating a finished product, using our foundation knowledge and through the help of our professors or teaching assistants and other colleagues as well.
What advice would you give to first-year engineering students?
I think one big piece of advice for first year students is staying organized and, especially during your courses, during second year and third year, as those can be the most challenging years.
Organization skills and project manager skills will help a lot during the capstone process as well. So having a really good organization or foundation is really important.
But I think also just, pursuing topics that you really enjoy, is really important and kind of pushing yourself to go into extracurriculars or things like that, that kind of follow the pathway that you see yourself and not being afraid to just put yourself out there.
Lastly do not be afraid to talk to new people and talk to your professors because these people could be your future colleagues, and they can really help you throughout your four years. So, you know, don't be afraid to approach someone new and ask them questions, work with them, and working with new people is always a great experience.
Congratulations on your graduation from TMU Engineering!
