Robotics may soon become safety aids

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and university researchers have a common cause in robotics: Keeping workers safe and healthy.

Two years ago, as COVID-19 gripped the world, the CDC started looking into robotics as a way to keep healthcare workers safe. The idea seemed obvious: Use robots to decrease the risk of infection in quarantine and intensive care environments.

Since then, robots have also been developed for tasks such as helping workers in recycling plants sort out recyclables and discover potentially dangerous items.

Cagri Kilic, a postdoctoral research fellow in the WVU Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, shows off a rover that he developed to research slips in planetary rovers. Two other researchers are applying this same technology to improve safety

Now researchers at West Virginia University are working on a project to reduce slips and falls in retail spaces by using robots. According to researchers, retail and wholesale workers suffer more than half a million non-fatal injuries yearly.

Robotic vehicles might well be able to detect hazardous conditions in warehouses and other spaces. The idea is that as the robot drives along, sensors compare wheel speed versus actual speed. A spinning wheel would warn of a slip hazard.