Abstract:

In the last two years, telepresence robots have been widely used and boosted due to the pandemic. Hospitals have embraced this modern technology as a form of protection and social interaction with humans, mainly because they incorporate videoconferencing equipment into mobile robotic devices that can be controlled remotely. This work characterizes how these telepresence robots can be used in places not only of social inclusion such as hospitals, museums, shopping malls, parks, conferences, but also their use and interaction in the school environment, as there are children who do not have access to a classroom for different reasons (e.g., health or mobility problems). In addition, this robot has an affordable development cost for so many schools, with a cost of $250, since telepresence robot systems currently available exceed $4000, making it difficult for many institutions to acquire them. The article highlights a system composed of a physical robot (sensors, actuators, artificial intelligence module and a cell phone integrated into the systems) and an App, for remote control of these devices, which facilitates their use in a school environment. The project is divided into two principal areas: a) Navigability Base; b) Communication and Control Module. These two areas are responsible for the robot's navigation with safety, stability, and reliability, because even if the student loses communication with the robot, it will wait for its reconnection. Artificial intelligence is embedded in the microcontroller to control the motors, acceleration, and various sensors of the robot, because if there is a loss of WI-FI signal, the artificial intelligence will return to the point of origin or the moment the user can take control. To avoid bumps or imbalance in places with difficult access or uneven floors, and to make the student comfortable with the use of the robot, a preventive embedded system was developed in which a servo motor not only makes the robot stop at an angle of 90º and restabilize, but it also leads to energy savings. For the ease of manipulation by the user of the telepresence robot at a distance, an App for mobile devices was developed. This is installed on the user's cell phone and on the robot's cell phone, allowing the user to move it by means of arrows that indicate its orientation and, when touching them, manipulate the robot from a distance, and the transmitted images serve not only the visualization of the environment as well as for photographic records according to the need and a better learning for the student, as he will be able to stop the robot in front of the teacher and interact with him and also with his classmates, in addition to being able to do work in groups. Also noteworthy is the environment recognition through a combination of cameras and a field vision sensor embedded in the robot's cell phone combined with Artificial Intelligence (for environment recognition, navigability learning, identification of obstacles, ramps, doors, corridors, elevators, and stairs). This project presents a viable solution for a low-cost telepresence robot with built-in artificial intelligence, as it uses a friendly interface, the mechanical design is simple and adaptable, opening a range of other possibilities and functionalities, and it was thought and developed to adapt school, academic and social needs.

Keywords:

Telepresence robot systems, school, health issues, artificial intelligence.