Smart Epidemic Prevention in Hospitals with ICP DAS’s LoRa Wireless Modem for Mobile Robot
The ICP DAS‘s LRA-900 LoRa wireless modem is used to transmit remote images to assist medical staff in patient care. It not only provides a remote diagnosis and treatment mode, but also reduces the risk of infection of medical personnel.
Introduction:
The COVID-19 outbreak has changed the way many people live, and even the way hospitals operate. During the severe period of the pandemic, patients in the isolation wards must be carefully cared for, which has led to a significant increase in the workload on medical personnel. In order to provide medical staff with a more convenient care model and reduce cross-infection rates, the hospital collaborated with manufacturers to develop a mobile epidemic prevention robot.
The mobile epidemic prevention robot has a tray, and items such as health insurance cards and medicines can be placed on it and delivered to isolation wards to reduce human-to-human contact. The medical staff can also use the remote control to take required images through the camera on the robot. With the help of the screen and voice device on the robot, patients can get consultations from the medical staff, and the medical staff can be aware of the patient’s condition at any time.
ICP DAS's LoRa wireless modem, transparent transmission mode assists remote diagnosis and treatment
In this case, the customer installed ICP DAS‘s LRA-900 LoRa wireless modem in the epidemic prevention robot. Through LoRa wireless communication, it is connected with the LRA-900 LoRa wireless modem in the control center for data transmission. Moreover, the LRA-900 in the control center transmits the information to the computer through the Modbus RTU communication protocol. The structure of this system is as follows:
The LRA-900 is a Modbus RTU to LoRa wireless data converter. It uses a transparent transmission mode to convert the information into LoRa wireless data to be sent by the control center or robot. The LRA-900 provides a wireless transmission rate of 10,000 bps and can reach a transmission distance of 1,5 km under line-of-sight conditions. To overcome interference that can occur in harsh environments, the LRA-900‘s wireless transmission rate can be adjusted to a minimum of 250 bps to improve anti-noise and anti-jamming capabilities. In addition, the LRA-900 has a configurable wireless channel and group ID, which can effectively avoid mutual interference when transmitting data between two adjacent LRA-900s.
Benefits:
The LRA-900 supports LoRa wireless communication method, with long-range communication, excellent setting method, and high receiver sensitivity. Its biggest advantage is the transmission distance, which can reach 1,5 km under line-of-sight conditions.
The data of LRA-900 adopts the transparent transmission mode, which is a data transmission mode. After the systems are connected with each other, the length and content of the data transmitted and received by the control center and the mobile epidemic prevention robot will be the same, which is equivalent to an invisible transmission line to avoid data missing or misreading.
The LoRa wireless transmission method is a low-power, long-range communication technology. Since the mobile epidemic prevention robot needs to move around a large hospital area, the plug-in operation has been replaced by a charging method. The power consumption of the LRA-900 is relatively low, which is very suitable for the current case.
The LRA-900 has VDC DC-to-DC and 2500 Vrms optical communication isolation function, which can resist noise when receiving data. The data can also be obtained in full, reducing the number of misdiagnoses by medical staff when caring for infected patients.
The LRA-900 is small in size, about 108x84x33(mm), and can be embedded into the body of the mobile epidemic prevention robot, making installation easier, faster, and cheaper.
The LoRa network is mainly composed of terminals and gateways (or base stations). Data can be transmitted one-to-many in both directions and under typical star topology. Users can distinguish and control different LRA-900 networks by adjusting the 32-segment channel and 256 group IDs, creating multiple communication groups within the same region.
ICP DAS's wireless communication products
There are many types of wireless networks, and each technology has its own uses. ICP DAS offers a variety of products related to wireless applications, which can convert the serial communication and Ethernet of industrial devices to 3G/4G/5G, Wi-Fi, radio frequency (RF), ZigBee, and other wireless transmission methods. They can easily handle communications applications over large areas as well as field challenges where wiring is difficult due to terrain. In addition to LoRa wireless communication products, ICP DAS‘s products related to ZigBee and RF wireless communication are also widely used.
ZigBee builds on the physical layer and media access control defined in IEEE standard 802.15. 4 for low-rate wireless personal area network (WPAN). It is suitable for automatic control and distributed systems for medium and long distances (from 10 to 700 meters). ZigBee devices are easy to use, have strong anti-interference performance, and guarantee low cost and high security. ICP DAS has developed ZigBee series products such as signal converters, repeaters and bridges, protocol analyzers, Modbus data concentrators, and I/O modules and sensors, which are often used in industrial control, environmental data acquisition, parking lot positioning, automation buildings, smart home, and other fields. Related application cases include Smart Aquaculture Solution. Due to the long distance between the fish pond and the control center, data is transmitted via ZigBee ZT-2550 and ZT-2551 wireless transmission modules. This solution not only increases the aquaculture industry’s production capacity, but also helps manage production risks and reduces production costs, allowing the aquaculture industry to move towards digitalization and sustainability.
ICP DAS provides ZigBee communication modules with various functions, such as ZT-2055-IOP (Pair Connection Mode) with a one-to-one I/O Pair-connection function and ZT-2055-IOG (Pair connection for the group) with a one-to-many I/O Pair-connection function. The MDC-211-ZT is a ZigBee data concentrator, providing multiple communication interfaces, including Ethernet, ZigBee Wireless, RS-232, and RS-485, which can easily transmit various types of data back to the control center.
Radio Frequency (RF) is an oscillation frequency in the range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the frequency of alternating current that carries radio signals. ICP DAS launched the RFU-433 wireless modem, which can convert RS-232/RS-485 to 433 MHz. In an environment with a communication baud rate of 9600 bps and under line-of-sight conditions, the transmission distance can reach up to 1 km. In order to overcome the interference that may be encountered in harsh environments, the wireless transmission baud rate of the RFU-433 can be adjusted to a minimum of 650 bps to enhance the anti-noise and anti-jamming capabilities. In addition, users can adjust 16 wireless channels and 8 group IDs to avoid mutual interference between two adjacent RFU-433 networks, thereby distinguishing and controlling them. The RFU-433 wireless modem has also been successfully used in an application carried out by ICP DAS “Solution for Overhead Cranes in Bicycle Painting Production Lines.”
Conclusion:
With the LRA-900 LoRa Radio Modem provided by ICP DAS, the mobile epidemic prevention robot can be controlled remotely, and the health status of patients can be monitored in real-time. This solution eliminates the need for direct contact between medical staff and patients, thereby reducing the risk of infection.
With the outbreak of the global epidemic, many new requirements and challenges have arisen. The transformation of various industries needs to be addressed with intelligent IoT technologies and remote solutions. ICP DAS offers a variety of wireless communication solutions with suitable communication methods for each unique application, and helps customers meet the high demand for IIoT implementation.
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ICP DAS was established in 1993 and strongly focuses on innovation and the enhancement of industrial automation technology. ICP DAS continuously endeavors to develop a comprehensive selection of products ranging from remote I/O controllers, distributed I/O modules, I/O data acquisition boards, programmable automation controllers, industrial communication modules, web-related products, motion control systems, SCADA/HMI software to automation solutions for applications critical to energy management, motion automation, smart factories, intelligent buildings, and smart cities. Our ambition is to provide a wide range of high-quality products and versatile applications, together with prompt and efficient services, that can be implemented to assist in the continued success of our clients worldwide.
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