With Medibot, you now have the answer.
Image for representation. Photo source: Wikimedia
Engineering students from Fr Conceicao Rodrigues College of Engineering (CRCE) in Mumbai, have developed a robot that's essentially a moving vending machine stocked with medicines.
Medibot, as they have named it, can go from one bed to another in hospitals. Patients have to be provided with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and when they scan the tags against the machine, it will dispense their medicine as well the quantity they are supposed to take at that particular time.
This, according to the students, will save time and resources for hospitals and will also make patients self-reliant. It was Medibot that was declared the "most innovative solution" at e-Yantra, the annual robotics competition held by Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
Such competitions ensure engineering students go beyond textbook learning and apply their expertise in addressing real-world problems and application. Kavi Arya, a professor at IIT-B and principal investigator of e-Yantra, spoke to the Hindustan Times and noted that students ought to be encouraged to think beyond a classroom setting. Kavi notes, "Most engineering graduates are not knowledgeable. They are just trained to clear examination."
You may also like: IIT Madras Team Makes Startling Discovery, Says Common Headache Drug Aspirin Could Help Treat Cancer
For its part e-Yantra was beset with innovations from engineering students across the board this year. One group from Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology designed a kiosk for airports that will be able to address basic queries of travelers in multiple languages. The competition is so popular that in 2016, 22,000 students from India participated.