Robotic Revolutions

Above: The Aethon Tug Helps “Make-a-Wish”

Here at Robotic Revolutions, we are big fans of robots that make life easier by assuming tedious tasks. Today, we’ll be taking a look at a the Aethon TUG, a little robot with a lot of responsibility. The TUG makes the lives of nurses easier and it is helping the Make-A-Wish Foundation provide hope for sick children.

The TUG is designed to autonomously deliver pharmaceuticals, patient records and medical goods in the hospital setting - like a tugboat for medical carts. It operates autonomously with a robotic motor and sensors, adjusting its path in the face of obstacles without the need for a magnetic strip or track to follow.

The TUG is able to travel up to ten hours in one day, pulling a cart up to five miles. By employing a robot to take over the dull and monotonous task of transporting goods, hospital staff are free to take care of more important matters. Aethon claims one TUG working two shifts, seven days a week, accomplishes more material delivery than 2.8 full-time employees.

Even more impressive than all of these tech specs, TUG is working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to brighten the lives of terminally ill children to fulfill the wish of seven-year old Jericho Rajninger.

“Jericho found that one of the most difficult parts of treatment for kids is seeing all the medicines necessary to battle their cancer. Jericho thought a robot might make the process if not fun, at least more pleasant,” said Patricia Wilson, executive director of the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish.

Make-A-Wish worked with Aethon, Gensler and Daedalus Excel to design the medical robot to look cool. They succeeded in making TUG appear like a train engine with a conductor and employed the voice talents of Don LaFontaine to give it even more personality.

The robot, named J.R. in honor of Jericho, will still deliver medicine, but won’t appear as mechanical or cold to children as traditional medical robots. The J.R. TUG was recently unveiled at UCSF Children’s Hospital.

“We are inspired by Jericho’s generosity and compassion for his fellow patients and the work done by the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation. So while UCSF Children’s Hospital is the first to implement Jericho’s J.R. robot, it will not be the last,” said Aldo Zini, CEO Aethon. “Aethon is going to help fulfill Jericho’s wish on a national scale by making his TUG available to all children’s hospitals.”

Disclosure: Aethon is a client of Schwartz Communications, where the author works, but is not affiliated with Robotic Revolutions.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under News, Medicine, Robotics, Robots. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.