HKPC develops service robots to address manpower shortage

The council developed intelligent robots for different settings and tasks.

The Hong Kong Productivity Council used advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to develop intelligent service robots that fit into different scenarios. Necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, they were aimed to not only reduce direct contact between people but also solve the challenges of manpower shortage due to staff infection.

Customer service robots

The customer service robots share employees' duties as receptionists and patrollers. It helps answer customers' questions, broadcast public announcements and crowd control messages, making it become a new generation of "safety ambassadors". This robot can naturally chat with guests in Cantonese, English and Mandarin, and has an object recognition function based on AI-trained models to avoid obstacles at work.

Frontline medical service robots

In view of the manpower shortage in Hong Kong's healthcare system, HKPC has developed a frontline medical service robot to help frontline medical staff reduce their workload and avoid direct contact between visitors, patients and medical staff. On top of its basic customer serviceability, this robot can also assist in directing and guiding visitors to the destination of various hospital facilities, checking the temperature of visitors and whether visitors are wearing masks, and broadcasting relevant warnings. This robot has natural language processing and obstacle avoidance functions. These medical service robots have provided service at Haven of Hope Hospital and Kowloon Hospital. HKPC is exploring cooperation opportunities with the Hospital Authority on the application of this frontline medical service robot.

Document delivery robots

The document delivery robot assists employees in passing documents or materials to colleagues, thus reducing direct contact between employees. The robot can move freely around the office with simultaneous localisation and mapping navigation. Employees can assign tasks to the robot through a mobile App conveniently and put the documents into the electronic locker to prevent them from being lost or exposed in transit. This robot is currently operating at HKPC Building.

Disinfection robots

The disinfection robot uses its existing robotics platform and cooperated with other professional disinfection robot companies, providing users with an automated all-round disinfection solution to help improve the enterprise's work efficiency, save manpower, as well as disinfect different premises during off-peak hours. This type of robot is equipped with a nozzle spray system, which can effectively disinfect every corner. It also carries the functions of autonomous navigation and obstacle avoidance, allowing it to move freely in crowded environments. When a task is completed, it will automatically return to its charging port without any manual operation.