This robot helps keep areas like warehouses clean.
Alyssa Pierson / CSAIL
The disinfection of rooms such as storage is during the Covid-19 pandemicDoing this while ensuring worker safety can be challenging. The MIT Laboratory for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (CSAIL) has therefore found a solution: Use a robot that uses UV-C light to disinfect surfaces and neutralize aerosolized forms of the coronavirus.
In collaboration with Ava Robotics and the Greater Boston Food Bank, CSAIL assembled a custom UV-C lamp on a mobile robot base from Ava Robotics. The lamp neutralizes about 90% of the surface microorganisms. The robot is initially operated by a remote user and then works autonomously. He can disinfect 4,000 square meters of storage space in half an hour.
The robot works when people are not around. This is good because UV-C light effectively kills viruses and bacteria on surfaces and aerosols, but it is not safe for humans. Virus-killing alternators have also been used Disinfect airplanes and hospitals.
Researchers say the robot could one day be used in other places, such as schools and grocery stores.