Blockchain-Empowered Multi-Robot Collaboration to Fight COVID-19 and Future Pandemics

Abstract

This conceptual paper overviews how blockchain technology is involving the operation of multi-robot collaboration for combating COVID-19 and future pandemics. Robots are a promising technology for providing many tasks such as spraying, disinfection, cleaning, treating, detecting high body temperature/mask absence, and delivering goods and medical supplies experiencing an epidemic COVID-19. For combating COVID-19, many heterogeneous and homogenous robots are required to perform different tasks for supporting different purposes in the quarantine area. Managmnt and decentralizing multi-robot play a vital role in combating COVID-19 by reducing human interaction, monitoring, delivering goods. Blockchain technology can manage multi-robot collaboration in a decentralized fashion, improve the interaction among them to exchange information, share representation, share goals, and trust. We highlight the challenges and provide the tactical solutions enabled by integrating blockchain and multi-robot collaboration to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed conceptual framework can increase the intelligence, decentralization, and autonomous operations of connected multi-robot collaboration in the blockchain network. We overview blockchain potential benefits to defining a framework of multi-robot collaboration applications to combat COVID-19 epidemics such as monitoring and outdoor and hospital End to End (E2E) delivery systems. Furthermore, we discuss the challenges and opportunities of integrated blockchain, multi-robot collaboration, and the Internet of Things (IoT) for combating COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Prevention of Covid-19 affected patient using multi robot cooperation and Q-learning approach: a solution

“…A comparative analysis based on several parameters such as types of robot used, the objective achieved, complexity of the approaches and the cost effectiveness of different approaches are represented in Table 4 . The authors in Kimmig et al ( 2020 ), Troccaz et al ( 2019 ) and Alsamhi et al ( 2020 ) ( http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/75435055.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst ) have used autonomous robots for execution of the assigned task. The main objective of the robots’ usage is as a service provider.…”

“…Robots are deployed randomly in different areas. The ideas about the environment and different events are shared among the robots (Alsamhi et al 2020 ).However, the health worker won’t get benefit from this. The authors in Zemmar et al ( 2020 ) have explained about the surgical robots during this pandemic.…”

Exploring Feasibility of Multivariate Deep Learning Models in Predicting COVID-19 Epidemic

“…LSTM is relatively easy to operate and straightforward to quickly adjust LSTM architecture by adding, removing, or (19,20). Unlike mechanistic models, data-driven DL models generally do not require thorough understanding of disease mechanisms to work with, as DL is directly driven by underlying data.…”

“…Other non-traditional data, such as social media, sensor-based data, and drone imaging, can be incorporated into the LSTM model to better characterize multiple aspects of COVID-19 dynamics ( 14 – 19 ). Decentralized blockchain techniques and robotics could also provide rich and secure inputs for data-driven models such as LSTM ( 19 , 20 ).…”

Internet of Things and Robotics in Transforming Current-Day Healthcare Services

“…Alsamhi and Lee have proposed a futuristic concept of collaborating multiple robots using blockchain technology and IoT to fight against COVID-19. This concept can be employed in the future for patient monitoring, outdoor, and hospital end-to-end delivery systems [ 108 ]. The technology is believed to manage multi-robot collaboration, improve interaction, and share health information more efficiently.…”