ITS rector Prof. Mochamad Ashari (two from right) explained how RAISA works to Vice Governor of East Java Emil Elestianto Dardak

ITS Campus, ITS News-in order to minimize the contact between the medical personnel with Covid-19 patients and reduce the use of personal protective equipment (APD) which is increasingly thinning, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) collaborated with Airlangga University (Unair) officially launched a Robot medical Assistant ITS-Airlangga (RAISA). The servant robot for Covid-19 patients was also handed over to the Airlangga University Hospital (RSUA) at ITS Robotics Center Building, Tuesday (14/4).

The rector of ITS Prof. Dr. Ir Mochamad Ashari MEng revealed, the project has been conducted along with Unair and the government of East Java province (Pemprov Jatim) to solve one of the problems caused by the Coronavirus pandemic or Covid-19. “Today we hope that the contributions given can provide benefits to both the medical personnel and the public,” he said with enthusiasm.

The rector who is familiarly called Ashari explained that RAISA has been designed by professionals and ITS robotic team that has won various competitions in foreign countries. “By hiring medical people from RSUA, the more complementary features to the robot that the patient will need,” said the lecturer of Departement of Electrical Engineering ITS

The rector of ITS Prof. Mochamad Ashari (right) was accompanied by the director of RSUA Prof Dr. Nasronudin (left) when explaining the technical and implementation of RAISA in RSUA

Welcoming the greeting delivered by Ashari, President Director of RSUA Prof Dr. Nasronudin SpPD-KPTI FINASIM also gave appreciation for the results of cooperation. He revealed that medical personnel in Unair need a technology application from ITS. “The Robot can provide services to patients who are being isolated such as delivering food, clothing, or medicines,” he said.

The Doctor who is familiarly called Nasron is adding, even with this robot, the patient also still need a nurse, but at least the intensity of the interaction is reduced. “The need for heart touching act and direct interaction is needed to support the psychology of Covid patients themselves,” said this 63 years old Doctor.

RAISA when tested in the presence of media and invitated people

Giving another point of view, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (MWA) ITS Prof Mohammad Nuh explained, many values exist in RAISA. Especially the value of humanity, because nurses or medical personnel who usually have to interact with the patient can already be replaced with robots. “So that with this robot, medical personnel can have more energy and reduce the occurrence of transmission,” he said.

The former Mendikbud added economic value can also be obtained because if ordering robots from abroad the fee will only give benefit for them (producers abroad). Therefore, ITS and Unair believe can make this so that it will produce greater economic value. “Also the value of togetherness, with Governor of East Java, ITS, and Unair together reduce the spread of SARS-Cov-2,” said the professor who familiarly called Nuh.

East Java’s Vice Governor, Emil Elestianto Dardak (left) accompanied by ITS executive board when delivering his appreciation after testing RAISA

In a robot demo that cost Rp 100 million per unit, Vice Governor of East Java Province Dr. Emil Elestianto Dardak feels the sophistication and conduct trials directly to this robot. “This RAISA is interesting, besides the appearance of its cute interface, it can also connect patients with the nurses through the screen,” said Emil satisfied.

Achmad Zidan Akbar and Shintya Rezky Rahmayanti, Informatics Engineering Department students who are affiliated with the RAISA making team, are preparing to run the robot during the trial

The Jakarta-born man expects the RAISA robot to expedited its production when it is well-operated in RSUA, expected to be operated in massive production soon. “Because we (government of East Java province, red) already prepared funds from APBD especially to develop research and technology,” he said.

Meanwhile, Muhtadin ST MT, one of the robot research teams from ITS explained, if this robot can operate depending on the connection of Wireless Fidelity (Wifi) and with the battery specification 0.85 kWh RAISA Estimated to be able to serve for about 8-10 hours. “Trials have also been conducted, to keep this sterile can be done using a disinfectant,” said this lecturer of Departement of Computer Engineering.

Vice Governor of East Java Emil Elestianto Dardak (right) when trying to communicate with the RAISA operator through the voice talk feature in the robot

This RAISA is controlled remotely with a joystick. The robot is a combination of technology that existed in ITS previous four robots, a wheeled football robot (Iris), an unmanned ship robot (Barunastra), a humanoid robot (Ichiro) and a robot for the Indonesian Robot Contest (KRI). The 1.5-meter-tall Robot comes with four stacked shelves that can carry a lot of goods up to 50 kilograms. It also features a monitor for two-way communication between the medical personnel and the patient using multimedia. (zar/rev/ITS Public Relations)

The ITS and RSUA team take pictures together after the RAISA test at ITS Robotics Central Building

RAISA Robot medical Assistant ITS-UNAIR