Designing an Interactive Indoor Delivery Robot and Its Implications

ABSTRACT

This research was carried out to provide an indoor service platform for employees with special needs. Disabled people have more energy/cost to adjust to the new work environment generated by COVID-19 than people without disabilities. Low job proficiency increases the number of customers waiting in the shop, which can reduce the café’s recycling rate and raise the danger of group infection. To resolve these issues, innovative technology must be used to prevent COVID-19 and improve employee health security for persons with disabilities. As a response to these issues, this paper proposes how to design an interactive delivery robot. The robot interacts with the human user via verbal expressions, such as explaining the destination using a speaker and a touch sensor and providing delivery services using a Lidar sensor and two actuators. The robot’s ability to go from the cafe to the target location, deliver the drink, and then return to the cafe to repeat the operation was proven as a consequence of the real design and implementation. We used ROS to bring those functions together on a single platform. This research is anticipated to revive the COVID-19 period, which has seen mutual communication go away, as well as contribute to economic restoration. Furthermore, I believe that given its aesthetic and practical benefits, it will be feasible to alleviate the job uncertainty that occurs in stores that employ individuals with impairments. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.