Egyptian inventor trials remote-control COVID testing robot Cira-03

Cira-03 robot
A volunteer is examined by Cira 3, a remote-controlled robot that runs tests on suspected coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients to limit the human exposure to the virus, amid a second wave of infections in Tanta, Egypt, November 18, 2020. Picture taken November 18, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

TANTA, Egypt (Reuters) – With Egypt facing a second coronavirus wave, an inventor is trialling a remote-control robot which can test for COVID-19, take the temperature of patients, and warn them if they don’t wear masks at a private hospital north of Cairo.

Mahmoud el-Komy, who designed the robot, called Cira-03, says it can help limit exposure to infection and prevent the transmission of the virus.

His creation, which has a human-like face and head and robotic arms, can take blood tests, perform echocardiograms and X-rays, and display the results to patients on a screen attached to its chest.

“I tried to make the robot seem more human so that the patient doesn’t fear it. So they don’t feel like a box is walking in on them,” he said.

“There has been a positive response from patients. They saw the robot and weren’t afraid. On the contrary, there is more trust in this because the robot is more precise than humans.”

Cira-03 tests a patient for coronavirus by cupping their chin and then extending an arm with a swab into their mouth.

Abu Bakr El-Mihi, head of a private hospital where the robot is being tested, said they were using the robot to take the temperature of anyone suspected of having COVID-19.

(Writing by Nadeen Ebrahim; Editing by Ulf Laessing and Alexandra Hudson)

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1 Comment

  1. An important use case for robots. However I don’t like it when people take others work without crediting the real designer. It is hard to see from this picture, but at least the robots head and neck design is from this project: https://inmoov.fr/ It is just leaves a wierd feeling when someone claims they designed something and actually just took someone else’s design and not credit it. Boo. This is (not) the way.

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