Worldwide, at present, researchers are vying to discover ways to contain the spread of coronavirus of COVD-19 ravaging the world. In the bid for this, studies reveal that coronavirus of COVID-19 is readily destroyed on exposure to ultraviolet light and heat when on surfaces such as chairs, wall, countertops, and floors.
This sparked an idea in the mind of a researcher of mechanical and aerospace engineering at University of Virginia, who earlier last year designed a roving robot that was operational semi-autonomously in hazardous locations.
To leverage this, the researcher recognized to attach UV and heat lamps to the roving robot. With this attachment, the roving robot could be used as a decontamination device to be operational in rooms fostering the coronavirus. The places could be medical clinics, supermarkets, or other businesses.
Prior Capability of Robot to withstand Hazardous Conditions gave Green Signal
“Meanwhile, the need to find a way to contain coronavirus led to work on the virus decontamination robot. The evidence that the roving robot can accomplish a large number of tasks in a hazardous scenario gave a cue for this,” added the researcher. Furthermore, the researchers were aware of state-of-the-art technology to find use right away for robotic decontamination. Such machines find use in conditions dangerous to humans, such as in the presence of poisons and pathogens, inside nuclear plants, under extremes temperatures, and where clean air is absent.
To establish the use of roving robot for decontamination of surfaces, the researcher and his team installed several UV lamps and heat lamps on it. This involved installing vertical linear lamps on the sides to sweep large stretch of walls and other vertical planeswith disinfecting light. Furthermore, the apparatus involved installing a lamp below to decontaminate floors as the robot moves around on its wheels. Lastly, the apparatus involved installing UV lamps at the end of an arm to clean horizontal surfaces.
