Design and construction of a autonomous robotic terrestrial protoptype of vehicle in the transport of medical supplies to fight against COVID-19

• Grant number: 21/05044-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2021
• End date: September 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering Design
• Principal Investigator: luis antonio oliveira araujo
• Grantee: João Pedro Mazili de Cia
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In recent times, society has been suffering the consequences of the pandemic of COVID-19. The health, economy and social sectors have been facing negative impacts proportional to the waves of contamination and death. People are under risk of contamination due to their occupations and the needs to support their families. At this time, changes in habit become mandatory and help comes from several areas. Robotics is in evidence by the use of robots for patrolling and monitoring agglomerations. Autonomous vehicles for the transport of people and cargo received a special attention by the low risk of contamination and economic advantage. This project proposal aims to develop an autonomous terrestrial prototype of vehicle, for the transport of medical supplies. The advantages are: a vehicle addapted to resist hygiene practices for the transport of health supplies and being sanitized by water and soap, or any other cleaning product. Reducing human contact with the transported materials. Autonomy of schedules, because the transport can occurs at any time of the day. Finally, in the case of Brazil, the motivation is amplified by the irregularities of the terrain, and in some cases, even the lack of properlly roads, which makes it difficult the logistic of medical supplies. Those issues demands an investigation of chassis and suspension, in order to develop a prototype that can overcome eventualities of the terrain (off road) and preserve the material under transportation.