Optimization of Operation Strategy for Collection Systems of Biohazard Wastes in Hospitals Based on Autonomous Robots: A Heuristic Approach

Abstract

The increasing rate of hospital admission led to increased volume of both municipal and biohazard wastes. The fourth industrial revolution opens up new perspectives to improve the conventional processes of hospitals and other institutions of health care systems. The application of new technologies integrated into the solutions of Industry 4.0 makes it possible to improve the efficiency of processes of hospitals not only in the field of medicine, but also in the field of other services, like logistics and supply chain. Within the frame of this article the authors are focusing on the development of new operation strategies for biohazard waste collection in hospitals using smart bins and autonomous waste collection vehicles/robots. The literature review helps to identify research gaps in the field of biohazard waste collection in hospitals. After that, the article describes the mathematical model of the waste collection system including smart bins, autonomous collection vehicles, users (patients and health professionals). The mathematical model has a time-based objective function, while time-, capacity- and safety-related constraints are also taken into consideration. The mathematical problem is an NP-hard problem; therefore, we use the non-linear regression and evolutive options of Excel Solver to find the optimal solution. The numerical scenarios validate the model and show the advantages of using new technologies in health care institutes, like hospitals.