University of Waterloo robot could be the future of helping first responders

Researchers at an Ontario university have developed a robot that might make all the difference when every second counts. CTV’s Spencer Turcotte reports.

It could be the future of helping first responders.

University of Waterloo researchers have developed a robot designed to triage patients in emergency situations.

From flashing lights to debris strewn about, first responders can face overwhelming situations, and it can be a challenge to know where to start. But that’s where University of Waterloo researchers. and their new robot. come in.

“Our soft medical triaging robot [is] aimed to aid first responders and crash aid,” said Lauren Mackay, who is hardware team lead for the UW MedTech Resolve team.

The soft component has to do with the parts. It is more malleable than your typical robot, which means it’s better for human-robot interaction.

“Think of a regular robot arm that has hard metal joints. It could crush someone’s arm, but this one, because it has feedback, it’s friendly for human-robot interaction and for an application such as a medical triage,” said Mackay.

In a medical triaging situation, time is of the essence and whether it’s a natural disaster or a crash, first responders may have dozens of patients to assess all at once.

But with the help of a triaging robot, a daunting task becomes more attainable.

“It could actually traverse though, like let’s say for example, a disaster site itself,” said Daniel Penaranda, a hardware team member for the UW MedTech Resolve team. “Then it would be able to attach a wristband onto the patients’ wrists one by one.”

The wristbands allow medical teams to use biometric signaling to measure things like someone’s heart rate and oxygen saturation.

“We can see who has the highest need for care based on their vital signs,” said Mackay.

The prototype differs from other robots because it uses pneumatics, which is the use of gas or pressurized air, to power its soft joints.

“We have these syringes which control the robot grippers and this uses hydraulics, which is also very precise for medical situations,” said Lucy Yandeng, a hardware team member for UW MedTech Resolve.

Their invention recently turned heads at a big robotics competition in Boston called the Form and Function Challenge.

“For the first time ever, it happened where a team was able to win two awards. We won both second place and the Audience Choice awards. That’s never happened before,” said Penaranda.

So don’t be surprised if one day you see first responders arrive with some robotic backup.