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Under the looming shadows of Covid-19, focus on the hygiene and cleanliness of a building has emerged to the forefront.
Image credit: TechObjects.io
Research studies has demonstrated that the Covid-19 virus can survive on environmental surfaces for 48 to 72 hours. Today, more than ever, there is an urgent need to contain the pandemic and prevent further uncontrolled viral spread by establishing cleaning practices that are more frequent, more thorough and more effective.
Facility managers need to manage the enhanced cleaning regimes with sustainable, cost-efficient solutions that must not rely on adequate manpower availability during pandemic lockdowns, opening up new opportunities for both robotics and IoT service providers. For this report, we will look at these various aspects of cleaning a building:
- Surface/air disinfection
- Restroom cleaning
- Waste clearing
- Floor cleaning
- Facade cleaning
- Solar panel cleaning
1.1 DISINFECTION ROBOTS
Disinfection robots, as a service robot category, has seen the most explosive surge in adoption since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are generally three types of disinfection approaches – by ultraviolet-C radiation (UV-C), by chemical spray and a dual approach incorporating both.
HOW UV-C DISINFECTION WORKS
Among the three types of ultraviolet light (A, B, C), UV-C has the most lethal effect on genetic materials – of humans and viral particles alike. Studies have shown that direct UVC light at a short wavelength of 254nm can break down the DNA in microbes, deactivating them from further replication. In real-life, where the virus may often be shaded from direct UV-C light, researchers advocate UV-C dosages of 1,000 – 3,000 mJ/cm2 to achieve 99.9% deactivation of both airborne and surface-bound virus. Because of its lethal effects, the UVC disinfection process must not be conducted in spaces with human presence.
UV-C Disinfection Robot - How it works (Image credit: TechObjects.io
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Distance matters too. The distance between the UVC light source and the target surface is also a critical point of consideration. As a general rule of thumb, the exposure time needed to deactivate a virus is about 5 to 20 seconds at a 10-cm distance, with the exposure time increasing quadratically with distance (exposure time at a 1m distance could take several minutes).
Thus, for room-sized disinfection, the UVC light source will often need to be re-located either manually with safety measures or autonomously to different positions of the room for maximal surface disinfection. Such a process can take up to 15 to 30 minutes per room.
QUALITIES OF UV-C DISINFECTION ROBOTS TO CONSIDER
AWARD-WINNING EXAMPLE: UVD ROBOTS
Started in 2014, Denmark-based UVD Robots is one of the few early innovators for UV-C disinfection AMRs. UVD Robots is one of the key suppliers of autonomous disinfection robots to Wuhan, ground zero of Covid-19, at the onset of the outbreak. Recognized with the prestigious IERA (Invention and Entrepreneurship in Robotics and Automation) award in 2019, UVD's UV-C disinfection robot is a high-performance worker, capable of consistently and reliably disinfecting a hospital room in 10-15 minutes.
Each disinfection robot costs between US$80,000 and $90,000, and requires a charging time of 6 hours while providing an operating time of 2 to 2.5 hours per UV module (equivalent to disinfecting 9 - 10 rooms on one full charge).
A DIFFERENT APPROACH: TRU-D SMARTUVC
Tru-D SmartUVC at Rush Memorial Hospital, Indiana
Tru-D (acronym for Total Room Ultraviolet Disinfection) SmartUVC's approach is based on using measured dosage of UV-C to disinfect the whole room from a single position. By precisely measuring the dose of UVC energy that reaches the walls and is reflected back to the center of the room, Tru-D SmartUVC is able to perform consistent disinfection on surfaces, including shadowed areas, from a single cycle and a single, fixed position.
This method of room disinfection differs from the more common approach that performs unmeasured but fixed-intensity and fixed-distance disinfection from multiple positions in a room.
FLYING EXAMPLE: DIGITAL AEROLUS
While most disinfection robots are floor-bound, drone company Digital Aerolus has innovated the Aertos 120-UVC, the world’s first indoor drone that enables aerial UV-C disinfection. One of the early deployments of the Aertos 120-UVC was at the BUGS Early Learning Center, disinfecting surfaces of the general play areas at the daycare facility. One advantage of aerial disinfection is the disinfection coverage for high surfaces, such as bar tops and table tops, that are typically out of reach for floor-bound robots.
Each flight time is about 10 minutes on average, remotely controlled by a trained drone pilot from a safe location. The pilot will need to consider the distance between the drone and the target surface, and the consequent exposure time (and hovering time) from the drone's 36 onboard UV-C emitters. The disinfection process for a large room could require several flight missions.
CHEMICAL SPRAY DISINFECTION ROBOTS
WHICH ONE WORKS BETTER?
The decision to use UV-C or chemical spray/fogging as the primary disinfection method depends heavily on the context of use and target environment. UV-C disinfection works by line-of-sight and performs well in environments with low light occlusion. Conversely, it is not effective for places with a lot of obstruction that can develop deep shadows which shelter the microbes.
Chemical spray or fogging provides volume coverage and thus, can be highly effective in nooks and crannies that UV-C irradiation cannot otherwise reach. However, it requires additional time and effort to seal the fogged environment before and after use for the disinfection to take place and may leave residual chemicals that cause harm to humans.
EXAMPLE: VTRAC ROBOTICS
Developed by VTrac Robotics of Canada, the Spray Disinfecting Robot is an 136-cm tall autonomous mobile robot (AMR) that can perform automatic disinfection indoors with an optional elevator-travel function that enables multi-floor disinfection routines.
MARKET CASE: HONG KONG MTR
How the VHP robot disinfects Hong Kong MTR trains
One of the high-profile deployments of chemical spray disinfection robots is in the MTR trains of Hong Kong, which carries up to 75,000 passengers per hour per direction during the peak hours. To keep its trains safe for mass transit, the MTR Corporation, together with Avalon Biomedical Limited, co-invented the “Vapourised Hydrogen Peroxide Robot” or VHP Robot.
The VHP Robot is an autonomous mobile robot that trundles down the aisles of the MTR train, spraying atomized hydrogen peroxide solution that penetrate deep, narrow gaps within the train that are otherwise difficult to clean manually. Each train is consist of 8 cars and it takes about 4 hours to complete an automatic cleaning routine, a timing which fits neatly during the train’s maintenance period from 1:00am to 5:30am.
MARKET CASE: HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Intelligent Sterilization Robot at the Hong Kong International Airport
The Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is one of the world's largest airports, with two terminals totalling a combined floor area of 7.6 million square feet. Prior to Covid-19, the HKIA is also among the top ten busiest airports in the world, handling more than 70 million passengers annually.
To prepare towards an extensive cleaning regime for the large airport premises, the Hong Kong Airport Authority has employed the Intelligent Sterilization Robots from Time Medical Systems to perform disinfection of public areas and passenger facilities. The Intelligent Sterilization Robot supports both UV-C as well as chemical spray disinfection modes and has a high disinfection efficacy of covering 15,000 square feet within 3 hours.
MORE DISINFECTION ROBOTS
You can discover other disinfection robots that we have not covered within this report in this list.
Continue to Page 2: Restroom Cleaning & Waste Clearing
CONTRIBUTORS
Gary Yates
I cover and write all things robotics @ Insights. Like everyone else, what I do today may be performed by a robot writer one day. So, I get ahead by keeping abreast of what is happening in the robotics world. You should too!
Gerald Y.
Contributing writer @ RList. Gerald keeps his eyes on the development of smart cities and how the sharing of open data can eventually deliver a ROI on the cities' investment in data collection and management infrastructure.
