The article investigates the idea of low-cost, telepresence-based mobile robots
for eventual use within villages and rural areas in Nigeria, where diseases such
as the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and Lassa Haemorrhagic Fever (LHF) are
common, yet human intervention is constrained due to the great risk of
transmission through bodily fluids. To illustrate the concept and practical
issues arising, a systems design approach is taken to identify some of the
engineering requirements; and, in the focus of this article, a prototype has
been developed at Lancaster University. The robotic device is semi-humanoid
in that the upper half features two 7-DOF manipulators, designed in part to
resemble human operation, while the lower half consists of a four-wheeled
base, prioritising ease of operation and reliability over the flexibility offered by
a leg-based system
