MIT has designed a robot that is capable of disinfecting the floor of a 4,000-square-foot warehouse in just half an hour, and that could one day be used to clean its local supermarket or school.
© Alyssa Pierson / CSAIL
In tests, the CSAIL team’s robot could disinfect a 4,000-square-foot space in the food bank’s warehouse in just half an hour.
The university’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) worked with Ava Robotics, a company that focuses on creating telepresence robots, and the Great Boston Food Bank (GBFB) to develop a robot that uses UV light. -C customized to disinfect surfaces and neutralize spray forms of coronavirus.
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Development of this project began in early April, and one of the researchers said it came in direct response to the pandemic. The results have been encouraging enough for researchers to say that autonomous UV disinfection could be done in other settings, such as supermarkets, factories, and restaurants.
Covid-19 is primarily propagated through airborne transmission, and is capable of staying on the surface for several days. Given that US states are reporting an increase in cases and there is no concrete timetable for a possible vaccine, there is currently no short-term end to the pandemic. That leaves schools and supermarkets looking for solutions to disinfect areas effectively.
While home cleaning solutions can reduce the spread of the virus, a self-contained robot capable of quickly and efficiently cleaning large areas like warehouses or supermarkets could prove essential. The researchers used the base of one of Ava Robotics’ mobile robots and modified it with a custom UV-C light lamp.
UV-C light has been shown to be effective in killing bacteria and viruses on surfaces, the researchers said. However, it is harmful to humans. The robot was built to be autonomous without the need for supervision or direct interaction.
The team teleoperated the robot to teach it how to navigate the warehouse by setting predefined reference points, and the team said it is currently exploring how to use the sensors on board the robot to adapt to changes in the environment.
The goal is for the robot to be able to adapt to our world to dynamically change its plan based on estimated UV-C doses.
The UV-C matrix attached to the top of the mobile robot emits shortwave ultraviolet light that kills microorganisms and disrupts their DNA in a process called ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, the researchers said. This process is generally used in hospitals or medical centers to sterilize rooms and stop the spread of microorganisms.
While the team currently focuses on a single robot that is deployed at the food bank, the team said they are exploring what “multi-robot solutions might look like in the future.”
© Alyssa Pierson / CSAIL
MIT’s robot is capable of cleaning a 4,000-square-foot warehouse in approximately 30 minutes.
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