OVERVIEW

Robotics technologies have been evolving and assimilating into many spectrums of human activities. In the context of COVID-19 pandemic, the use of robotics technologies are the logical answers to some of the risky tasks which need to be done in various critical sectors such as medical service in indoor and outdoor medical settings, local domestic transportation, handling of hazardous chemical waste, perimeter inspections and sanitisation of public spaces. COVID-19 has put many constraints on direct human to human contacts and possible viral spreading from shared utilities. The social distancing has prevented many urgent services to be delivered. In this, robotics technologies such as autonomous mobile robotic platforms for food delivery and patient monitoring in critical wards will be crucial. The replacement of human being with a robot will ensure more efficient service and much reduced risks to medical personnel. In this talk, I will share some ideas and observations on how Robotics Technologies can be utilised to cater for critical services in the COVID-19 pandemic red zones and assist in the efficient containment of the virus.


SPEAKER PROFILE

Ir. Prof. Dr. Mohd Rizal Arshad

Ir. Prof. Dr. Mohd Rizal Arshad has been working at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia as full-time academics since March, 1999. He graduated from University of Liverpool in 1994 with a B.Eng. in Medical Electronics and Instrumentation. He then pursued his MSc. in Electronic Control Engineering at the University of Salford and graduated in Dec. 1995. In early 1999, he completed his Ph.D degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Liverpool, UK. He is a Full Professor at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, USM and currently, seconded to Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) as the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic and International. He is  the President of Malaysian Society for Automatic Control Engineers (MACE), Past-Chair of IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society Malaysia Chapter and committee member for IEM Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture Technical Division (MNATD).