Study and Simulation of a Medication Dispensing System in a Hospital Pharmacy by a Cartesian Robot

• Grant number: 23/03767-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2023
• End date: August 11, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Industrial Electronics, Electronic Systems and Controls
• Principal Investigator: Roberto Santos Inoue
• Grantee: Isabela Dias Alves
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

During the process of dispensing medicines and materials in a hospital pharmacy, agility and precision are essential to prevent medication errors from occurring. Using technological tools can help to ensure this. One of the existing technologies on the market that can help in this application is the robotic manipulator.During the medication dispensing process in a hospital pharmacy, agility and precision are essential to prevent medication errors from occurring. One of the technological tools on the market that can assist in this application is the Cartesian robotic manipulator, as it can be adaptable to different environmental arrangements. The movement of the robot, carried out by the degrees of freedom contained within it, and the collection of medicines carried out by mechanical claws, suction cups or even suction, are designed to meet the pharmacy's available space. Current research aims to develop a simulated prototype of a Cartesian robot applied to the pharmacy at the UFSCar University Hospital.To execute the project, the set of ROS frameworks will be used, necessary for communication between software and hardware, Gazebo, necessary to simulate the operation of the robot in its application with data generated in the program itself, and MoveIt!, used in planning of the trajectory of the simulated prototype. In addition to computational resources, methods for defining the collection sequence, genetic algorithm, and determining the route for obtaining medicines, inverse kinematics, will be applied. The tools and strategies mentioned will achieve the main objective of this research: to develop a simulated prototype of a Cartesian robot that automates the medication dispensing process at HU-UFSCar.