A homemade robot designed by Indonesian villagers and scientists for fun has found a new use during the pandemic - bringing food, and hopefully a smile, to self-isolating residents who have contracted Covid-19.

An eclectic assembly of household items like pots, pans and an old television monitor, it is now named the "Delta robot" in a nod to the highly contagious variant of the coronavirus that has ripped through Indonesia.

"With this new Delta variant...