A reliable robotic solution for hospital logistics: Implementation of intelligent pathfinding and control strategy

Abstract

Healthcare institutes such as hospitals often face a shortage of caregivers and a high workload that affects the efficiency and quality of care. This paper addresses such problems by implementing a prototype LFR model for automated medicine delivery systems in hospital environments. The system uses IR sensor and sonar sensor for complex path navigation. To address challenges with path retention of LFRs, the A? algorithm is utilized for optimized route selection, while a Proportional-Derivative (PD) controller ensures smooth navigation and stability at higher speed. A simulation was carried out in MATLAB to evaluate the effectiveness of the PD controller for a designed path. Furthermore, the practical test revealed the boost in system performance by 30% with a speed of 0.15 m / s using the PD controller, which is a significant improvement over the system without the PD controller. An interactive GUI was designed for controlling the entire system using Python Tkinter. For security purposes, fingerprint unlock feature has been integrated which increases reliability of the overall system. This research demonstrates that the proposed LFR system offers an efficient, scalable solution to enhance hospital medication delivery and reduce caregiver workload.