Robot Development and Path Planning for Indoor Ultraviolet Light Disinfection

Abstract

Regular irradiation of indoor environments with ultraviolet C (UVC) light has become a regular task for many indoor settings as a result of COVID-19, but current robotic systems attempting to automate it suffer from high costs and inefficient irradiation. In this paper, we propose a purpose-made inexpensive robotic platform with off-the-shelf components and standard navigation software that, with a novel algorithm for finding optimal irradiation locations, addresses both shortcomings to offer affordable and efficient solutions for UVC irradiation. We demonstrate in simulations the efficacy of the algorithm and show a prototypical run of the autonomous integrated robotic system in an indoor environment. In our sample instances, our proposed algorithm reduces the time needed by roughly 30% while it increases the coverage by a factor of 35% (when compared to the best possible placement of a static light).

Development of a UVC-based disinfection robot

“…The research in Conroy et al (2021) offered an effective equipment support system for indoor operation, such as a long-term power supply system and high payload performance, with an optimized path-planning algorithm. Developed by UVER, their UV LED sterilization robot (Korea Association of Robot Industry, 2020) is an air sterilization device that uses collision detection and obstacle avoidance, and is equipped with a multiwavelength UV LED and one robotic arm which can drive eight axes in 360 degrees.…”