Design Considerations for a Robotic Hand Sanitizer Encouragement Platform

We present the initial design, and development of a wheeled mobile robot that encourages people to sanitize their hands. The aim is to help people make hand hygiene part of their daily routine, as hand hygiene is perhaps the most important measure to prevent healthcare related infections. The laws that regulate machinery, and robots deployed in public spaces affected the design, and determined the equipment mounted on the robot. Safety, and accessibility where the main drivers behind all design considerations in order to allow for side, and forward secure approaches. For a wheeled mobile robot to be able to navigate in complex, and populated indoor environments, and assist humans in sanitizing their hands, a combination of multiple sensors, equipment, and accessories is needed. We tried to keep the budget of the robot to a minimum by equipping it with low-cost equipment whenever possible, and by allowing those who helped us build the robot to be advertised on the robot. We have decided to use hard materials for three reasons: to have a more stable design; to indicate that this is not a robot for communication purposes; and to be able to clean/disinfect it easier. The first iteration of our robotic platform is 1415 mm tall, has max speed 0,7 m/s, is mostly build of stainless-steel material, and involves a contactless hand sanitizer dispenser built on top of a Slamtec platform. Our proposed robotic solution can be deployed in private spaces also, and can be further upgraded with more and better quality equipment to serve in different needs/contexts.