Applications of Robots for COVID-19 Response
Robin R. Murphy, Vignesh Babu Manjunath Gandudi, Justin Adams

TL;DR
This paper systematically reviews 262 reports on 203 instances of ground and aerial robots used in COVID-19 response, categorizing applications, robot types, and control methods to identify trends and research gaps.
Contribution
It introduces a novel taxonomy of six application categories and provides a comprehensive analysis of robot usage, models, and control styles during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings
Public safety and clinical care were the most common applications.
Ground robots were used more frequently than aerial systems.
Teleoperation was the dominant control style, with significant automation and autonomy applications.
Abstract
This paper reviews 262 reports appearing between March 27 and July 4, 2020, in the press, social media, and scientific literature describing 203 instances of actual use of 104 different models of ground and aerial robots for the COVID19 response. The reports are organized by stakeholders and work domain into a novel taxonomy of six application categories, reflecting major differences in work envelope, adoption strategy, and human-robot interaction constraints. Each application category is further divided into a total of 30 subcategories based on differences in mission. The largest number of reported instances were for public safety (74 out of 203) and clinical care (46), though robots for quality of life (27), continuity of work and education (22), laboratory and supply chain automation (21), and non-clinical care (13) were notable. Ground robots were used more frequently (119) than…
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Taxonomy
TopicsDisaster Response and Management · Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation
