RIYADH: A robot is distributing copies of the Qur’an to pilgrims performing their final Hajj ritual before leaving Makkah, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques reported on Monday.
Tawaf Al-Wida is performed before a pilgrim departs from Makkah and is an obligatory ritual.
Sheikh Badr bin Abdullah Al-Furaih, the presidency’s deputy president for guidance affairs, explained that the robot uses a dual automatic navigation system and has a three-dimensional sensor to avoid collision with barriers and people.
The robot weighs 59 kg and can carry up to 40kg. Its speed, which can be controlled, varies between 0.5-1.2/s, and its dimensions are 565x537x1290 mm.
Al-Furaih said that the use of technology, modern applications, and artificial intelligence is one of the priorities of the head of the presidency Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais.
Pilgrims are stoning the pillars at the Jamarat Bridge for a final time on Monday before returning to the Grand Mosque where they will perform Tawaf Al-Wida.
