Surface Disinfection using Ultraviolet Lightwith a Mobile Manipulation Robot

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Infectious Disease Control
• Microbiology

Background:

• Robots are crucial in combating infectious diseases like Ebola, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2.
• Current UV disinfection robots often have fixed UV light configurations, leading to inadequate decontamination of horizontal surfaces and potential cross-contamination.
• Effective disinfection strategies are vital for preventing pathogen spread in healthcare and public spaces.

Approach:

• Designed, implemented, and tested an Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) system on a mobile manipulation robot.
• Developed autonomous planning and execution of end-effector trajectories for precise UVGI delivery.
• Created and validated mathematical models for Ultraviolet (UV) radiation propagation and accumulation.

Key Points:

• The UVGI system allows human supervisors to designate surfaces for disinfection.
• The robot autonomously plans and executes disinfection trajectories to achieve required certainty.
• Mathematical models of UV radiation propagation and accumulation were constructed and validated.
• Implementation on the Fetch mobile manipulation platform was detailed, discussing practical considerations.

Conclusions:

• The developed UVGI system enhances robotic disinfection capabilities for highly infectious diseases.
• Autonomous trajectory planning ensures comprehensive decontamination of targeted surfaces.
• The study provides insights into the practical application and modeling of UVGI on mobile robots.