Meet Florence
Florence is a next-generation robotic nurse assistant platform designed to autonomously deliver items to patients. Florence gives nurses back their time, allowing them to devote their energy to more critical responsibilities.
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Why Florence? Why Now?
The Canadian nursing shortage is real and is expected to worsen over the coming years. The deficit has grown by a staggering 50% over the past decade (source). Furthermore, this trend is expected to worsen as rates of disinterest in the nursing profession are largest among young nurses (source). The effects of the nursing shortage were made obvious during the Covid-19 pandemic leading to the over-working of front-line workers. We believe that a technology based solution like Florence allows for an agile, scalable, and continously improveable approach to the problem.
Florence Spotlight
Functionality
Florence's specialty is fulfilling delivery requests. She swiftly navigates to the patient's bedisde. Once there, the patient makes their item selection through the tablet interface (exaples of items are blankets, snacks, and water). Next, Florence navigates over to the nursing station where an administrator loads her basket with the items. Finally, Florence returns to the patient and dynamically determines a location to extend the basket to. Finally, when the patient accepts the items, Florence returns home, where she eagerly awaits the next request. Checkout the Blog section for more details!
Sensor Suite
Florence uses an extensive sensor suite to reliably and safely fulfill the delivery requests. Florence is equipped with wheel encoders, an IMU, and lidar scanners at the base. These sensors allow her to localize within the hospital floor and avoid obstacles during autonomous navigation. Furthermore, florence is equipped with a 3D-camera which allow dynamic interactions with the patient and high precision arm encoders on both arms, allowing for precise motion.
