Disinfection Robot Research Articles

Research on Intelligent Disinfection Robot Based on STC89C52 Microcontroller Control System

An intelligent disinfection robot based on STC89C52 microcontroller as the control system is proposed to address the current problems of high cost, scene limitations, and complex control factors. With the assistance of software development, the peripheral circuit of the chip is designed, and the robot can dynamically adjust its path according to its own and surrounding companions' position and motion status. The research results indicate that the various modules of the system can work in coordination, with high accuracy in tracking routes, precise image recognition, timely obstacle avoidance, fast response speed, and safe and reliable system operation. The disinfection robot carried out disinfection and sterilization test on the most common staphylococcus aureus and mold, and the test results showed that the pathogenic bacteria decreased significantly after 2 min, and all bacteria were removed after 3 min, and the killing rate of bacteria was up to>96.0%. This method improves the obstacle avoidance ability and collaborative efficiency of robot systems in complex environments, and can effectively respond to various unexpected situations.

Applications of robot-assisted UV disinfection in dentistry.

Maintaining a microbial-free environment in healthcare facilities is more widely recognized as an essential component of therapies to minimize transmission of viruses associated with healthcare sector. The global spread of COVID-19 and recent outbreaks have presented humanity with previously unheard-of challenges. The development of autonomous disinfection robots seems to be necessary given the urgent need for constant sterilization in the face of a labor shortage. Due to their automated and perceived cost advantages by eliminating cleaning staff, these robots are being advertised more and more as an easy solution to immediately disinfect rooms and operating areas. The use of these services lowers the danger of infection, and expense of traditional cleaning and, most significantly, builds trust and security in medical facilities. Currently, routine (manual) cleaning is not replaced by disinfection robots; rather, they may support it. Additional hospital and device design alterations are necessary to address the overshadowing (visibility) issue allowing Ultraviolet disinfectant (UV-D) robots move freely in the medical environment. More technical developments and clinical studies in a variety of hospitals are needed to overcome the current challenges and find ways to integrate this unique technology into hospitals now and in the future. Thus, we present a review that includes detailing all elements required for it to function, as well as both its advantages and disadvantages. To the best of our knowledge, very limited studies have collected an in- depth data on the sterilization effect using a disinfection robot in the field of dentistry. We believe that this data will work as a foundation in more advanced uses at diverse sites that require disinfection and will highlight unsolved challenges and potential research avenues for UV robot operational concerns in dental hospitals. The goal of this work is to offer a comprehensive manual for UV-D robots covering pertinent information on traditional Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) system along with advancements in UV-D robots and thereby focusing on in-depth application in medical and dental facilities.

Cloud Manufacturing Service Composition Optimization Based on Improved Chaos Sparrow Search Algorithm with Time-Varying Reliability and Credibility Evaluation

The economic friction and political conflicts between some countries and regions have made multinational corporations increasingly focus on the reliability and credibility of manufacturing supply chains. In view of the impact of poor manufacturing entity reliability and service reputation on the new-era manufacturing industry, the time-varying reliability and time-varying credibility of cloud manufacturing (CMfg) services were studied from the perspective of combining nature and society. Taking time-varying reliability, time-varying credibility, composition complexity, composition synergy, execution time, and execution cost as objective functions, a new six-dimension comprehensive evaluation model of service quality was constructed. To solve the optimization problem, this study proposes an improved chaos sparrow search algorithm (ICSSA), where the Bernoulli chaotic mapping formula was introduced to improve the basic sparrow search algorithm (BSSA), and the position calculation formulas of the explorer sparrow and the scouter sparrow were enhanced. The Bernoulli chaotic operator changed the symmetry of the BSSA, increased the uncertainty and randomness of the explorer sparrow position in the new algorithm, and affected the position update and movement strategies of the follower and scouter sparrows. The asymmetric chaotic characteristic brought better global search ability and optimization performance to the ICSSA. The comprehensive performance of the service composition (SvcComp) scheme was evaluated by calculating weighted relative deviation based on six evaluation elements. The WFG and DTLZ series test functions were selected, and the inverse generation distance (IGD) index and hyper volume (HV) index were used to compare and evaluate the convergence and diversity of the ICSSA, BSSA, PSO, SGA, and NSGA-III algorithms through simulation analysis experiments. The test results indicated that the ICSSA outperforms the BSSA, PSO, SGA, and NSGA-III in the vast majority of testing issues. Finally, taking disinfection robot manufacturing tasks as an example, the effectiveness of the proposed CMfg SvcComp optimization model and the ICSSA were verified. The case study results showed that the proposed ICSSA had faster convergence speed and better comprehensive performance for the CMfg SvcComp optimization problem compared with the BSSA, PSO, SGA, and NSGA-III.

Evaluation of disinfection effect of high-energy pulse ultraviolet disinfection equipment in medical institution settings

Objective: To evaluate the disinfection effect of high-energy pulse ultraviolet disinfection equipment in medical institution settings. Methods: The disinfection effect was evaluated through field tests and laboratory tests. Among them, 135 high-frequency contact points were selected from nine departments in the field test. Samples were collected before and after disinfection, and the disinfection effects of 75% alcohol wipes wiping disinfection, high-energy pulse ultraviolet disinfection robot disinfection and high-energy pulse ultraviolet handheld disinfection instrument were compared. In the laboratory test, 30 infected areas of the simulated test table were exposed to vertical ultraviolet irradiation and the bacterial-killing rate before and after disinfection was calculated. Results: In the field test, the bacteria-killing rates of 75% alcohol wipes, high-energy pulse ultraviolet disinfection robot and high-energy pulse ultraviolet handheld disinfection instrument were 94.99%, 91.53% and 95.94%, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant. The disinfection effect of the high-energy pulse ultraviolet handheld disinfection instrument was better than that of the high-energy pulse ultraviolet disinfection robot (P values <0.05). In the laboratory test, the killing log value of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli on the carrier were both greater than 3.00. In the simulated field test, the killing log value of Staphylococcus aureus on the surface samples were 4.99. Conclusion: Both the high-energy pulse ultraviolet handheld disinfection instrument and the high-energy pulse ultraviolet disinfection robot have good disinfection effects, which are similar to the disinfection effects of conventional 75% alcohol wipes.

Indoor Localization and Path Planning of Mobile Disinfection and Epidemic Prevention Robot

Introduction: In response to the challenge of autonomous localization and navigation for mobile disinfection robots in unknown environments during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the existing patent technology of mobile robots, a localization and navigation approach combining the Cartographer-Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm, an improved A* algorithm, and the Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) has been proposed, enabling effective disinfection and prevention work. Method: First, a comprehensive analysis of two laser SLAM algorithm frameworks, Gmapping- SLAM and Cartographer-SLAM, was conducted, which determined the Cartographer algorithm as the optimal SLAM algorithm for the mobile disinfection robot due to its superior performance. Second, an improved A* algorithm was developed based on its principles and integrated with the DWA algorithm for optimal path planning. Result: Simulation and prototype experiments demonstrated that the proposed approach effectively solved the autonomous localization and navigation challenges faced by mobile disinfection robots in unknown environments, enabling successful disinfection and prevention tasks. Conclusion: The proposed approach has the potential to lead to new patent applications in this field.

Implementation of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) Algorithm for Autonomous Robot

In Indonesia, the development of autonomous robots has emerged intensively since the last coronavirus pandemic, especially the autonomous UV disinfection (A-UV) robot. A-UV disinfection robot has the purpose of purifying germs and pathogens in critical areas, such as the hospital. As the minuscule creature can be difficult to control, the anticipation of letting no human have contact with it is one of the other purposes of the A-UV disinfection robot. However, the systematic development of the autonomous robot is the priority, where the robot can offer a collision-free obstacle, and target-lock when arriving at the designated location. In this study, two main contributions are proposed to develop the autonomous robot: 1) Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) algorithm to learn the potential surrounding the lock area from the dataset to ensure collision-free during the operation. 2) Original design to ensure the compactness of the autonomous robot with almost omnidirectional UV light. We design the surrounding area with “BOX” as the obstacle and “SIGN STOP” as the target in our CNN dataset. The performance is validated to have 97% and 99% for training and validation performance and 0.3% for loss. The robot prototype was also developed and tested inside a workspace with a size of 2.1 x 3 m. The robot prototype successfully performed the required tasks.

RoboCoV Cleaner: An Indoor Autonomous UV-C Disinfection Robot with Advanced Dual-Safety Systems.

In the face of today's ever-evolving global health landscape and ambient assisted living (AAL), marked by the persistent emergence of novel viruses and diseases that impact vulnerable categories and individual safety, the need for innovative disinfection solutions has surged to unprecedented levels. In pursuit of advancing the field of autonomous UV-C disinfection robotics, we conducted two comprehensive state-of-the-art analyses: the first one in the literature and the second one in existing commercial disinfection robots to identify current challenges. Of all of the challenges, we consider the most outstanding ones to be safeguarding humans and animals and understanding the surroundings while operating the disinfection process challenges that we will address in this article. While UV-C lamps have demonstrated their effectiveness in sterilizing air and surfaces, the field of autonomous UV-C disinfection robotics represents a critical domain that requires advancement, particularly in safeguarding the wellbeing of humans and animals during operation. Operating UV-C disinfection robots in close proximity to humans or animals introduces inherent risks, and existing disinfection robots often fall short in incorporating advanced safety systems. In response to these challenges, we propose the RoboCoV Cleaner-an indoor autonomous UV-C disinfection robot equipped with an advanced dual and redundant safety system. This novel approach incorporates multiple passive infrared (PIR) sensors and AI object detection on a 360-degree camera. Under our test, the dual-redundant system reached more than 90% when detecting humans with high accuracy using the AI system 99% up to 30 m away in a university hallway (different light conditions) combined with the PIR system (with lower accuracy). The PIR system was proved to be a redundant system for uninterrupted operation during communication challenges, ensuring continuous sensor information collection with a swift response time of 50 ms (image processing within 200 ms). It empowers the robot to detect and react to human presence, even under challenging conditions, such as when individuals wear masks, in complete darkness, under UV light, or in environments with blurred visual conditions. In our test, the detection system performed outstandingly well with up to 99% detection rate of humans. Beyond safety features, the RoboCoV Cleaner can identify objects in its surroundings. This capability empowers the robot to discern objects affected by UV-C light, enabling it to apply specialized rules for targeted disinfection. The proposed system exhibits a wide range of capabilities beyond its core purpose of disinfection, making it suitable for healthcare facilities, universities, conference venues, and hospitals. Its implementation has the ability to improve significantly human safety and protect people. By showcasing the RoboCoV Cleaner's safety-first approach and adaptability, we aim to set a new benchmark for UV-C disinfection robots, promoting clean and secure environments while protecting vulnerable people, even in challenging scenarios.

Design and Development of a Surface Disinfection Robot with Ultraviolet Light and Sanitizer Sprinkler

Design and Development of a Surface Disinfection Robot with Ultraviolet Light and Sanitizer Sprinkler

An Autonomous Mobile Combination Disinfection System.

To address the common drawbacks of current disinfection robots, which include the potential for secondary environmental pollution, disinfection dead corners, and low efficiency, in this paper, an autonomous mobile combination disinfection system is proposed. The system utilizes ultraviolet (UV) radiation and a low-concentration hydrogen peroxide aerosol to kill pathogens. It comprises three parts: a human-computer interface, a mobile robot, and disinfection equipment. A disinfection process model with continuous and fixed-point modes was established, and the effective disinfection range, speed, and duration were quantitatively calculated. The developed prototype was tested on-site by a professional third-party testing agency. The experimental results demonstrated that the combination disinfection robot achieved a 92.95% disinfection rate of natural airborne bacteria in a room measuring 22 square meters with a height of 2.8 m in just 30 min. The disinfection efficiency is at least 25% higher compared to standalone UV lamp disinfection and also exhibits a noticeable improvement over standalone hydrogen peroxide aerosol disinfection. The system enables the environmentally friendly, rapid, efficient, and all-encompassing disinfection of natural airborne bacteria. Finally, various disinfection solutions and recommendations for different application scenarios and requirements are provided.

Description and results of a new method for assessing real-life performance of a UV-C disinfection robot

Due to the disadvantages of manual disinfection of patient rooms, mobile disinfection robots using ultraviolet C (UV-C) radiation are increasingly being used. Assessing their in situ effectiveness remains challenging. This study describes a new method to prove adequate in situ disinfection (≥5-log reduction in bacterial load), and uses this method to assess the efficacy of a mobile disinfection robot using UV-C radiation. Agar plates serving as proxies for smooth surfaces in patient rooms were inoculated with bacterial suspension and placed on various surfaces in a patient room. After irradiation by an automated mobile UV-C robot, reduction in colony growth was determined by comparing the irradiated plates to a reference series of non-irradiated plates, enabling the evaluation of whether an adequate reduction in colony-forming units (CFU's) of ≥5-log was reached on these irradiated surfaces. The new technique described here proved a successful method for demonstrating an in situ ≥5-log reduction in CFU's for five different bacterial pathogens. Of the 32 plates placed on UV-accessible surfaces, 31 showed an adequate reduction in CFU's of ≥5-log. One plate could not be assessed. Inoculated agar plates placed in patient rooms before irradiation and subsequently compared to a reference series can be used to assess in situ efficacy of mobile disinfection robots using UV-C radiation. Our findings support the idea that UV-C robots, used adjunctively to conventional manual washing and disinfection, may achieve adequate bacterial load reduction on UV-accessible smooth surfaces in patient rooms for a selected subset of pathogens.

Research and Design of Intelligent Anti-epidemic Disinfection Robot Based on ROS

In the context of the global epidemic of COVID-19, in order to solve the problems of heavy disinfection and epidemic prevention tasks in densely populated indoor public places and a low degree of automation and intelligence, a smart anti-epidemic disinfection robot solution that integrates multiple disinfection methods is proposed. The solution is designed and developed based on the open-source robot operating system (ROS) with digital intelligent remote disinfection function, micron-level atomization disinfection function, and multi-angle ultraviolet light disinfection function, providing a full range of high-efficiency disinfection and disinfection for the air environment bacteria protection. It has the functions of autonomous positioning and navigation, intelligent path planning, and real-time perception of environmental parameters. It is also equipped with a remote monitoring platform to monitor the status of the disinfection robot itself and task execution in real time to ensure stable operation and to issue disinfection tasks at regular intervals or in certain areas. The practice has proved that this solution can effectively solve the problem of the high labor cost of manual disinfecting so that one person can quickly complete the whole-area disinfecting work, greatly improving work efficiency, and it has good application value and is worth promoting.

UV-C Based Disinfectant Robot

Abstract: UVC (ultraviolet-C) light has been proven to kill various bacteria and viruses, including the COVID-19-producing virus, which has been discovered to be a powerful disinfectant. Manual UVC disinfection, on the other hand, can be tiresome, time-consuming, and hazardous for human operators. As our senior project, we developed a UVC-based disinfection robot to address these problems. Our robot has been designed to move and clean on its own in a variety of applications including hospitals, schools, and public places. Ultrasonic sensors for navigation and obstacle avoidance, a mobile platform, a UVC light source, and an Arduino microcontroller for communication and control comprise the robot.We conducted a microbiological test to gauge the robot's performance by comparing the number of microbe cells on a surface before and after UVC disinfection. Our findings demonstrated the robot's effectiveness as a disinfection tool by showing that bacterial colonies were reduced by 93.9%. By measuring UVC radiation levels at various angles and at various distances from the light source, we were also able to assess the safety of the robot. Our findings demonstrated that the robot complied with safety requirements for UVC radiation exposure to humans.

Phenotypic Variation in Clinical S. aureus Isolates Did Not Affect Disinfection Efficacy Using Short-Term UV-C Radiation.

Pigmentation, catalase activity and biofilm formation are virulence factors that cause resistance of Staphylococcus aureus to environmental stress factors including disinfectants. In recent years, automatic UV-C room disinfection gained greater importance in enhanced disinfection procedures to improve disinfection success in hospitals. In this study, we evaluated the effect of naturally occurring variations in the expression of virulence factors in clinical S. aureus isolates on tolerance against UV-C radiation. Quantification of staphyloxanthin expression, catalase activity and biofilm formation for nine genetically different clinical S. aureus isolates as well as reference strain S. aureus ATCC 6538 were performed using methanol extraction, a visual approach assay and a biofilm assay, respectively. Log10 reduction values (LRV) were determined after irradiation of artificially contaminated ceramic tiles with 50 and 22 mJ/cm2 UV-C using a commercial UV-C disinfection robot. A wide variety of virulence factor expression was observed, indicating differential regulation of global regulatory networks. However, no direct correlation with the strength of expression with UV-C tolerance was observed for either staphyloxanthin expression, catalase activity or biofilm formation. All isolates were effectively reduced with LRVs of 4.75 to 5.94. UV-C disinfection seems therefore effective against a wide spectrum of S. aureus strains independent of occurring variations in the expression of the investigated virulence factors. Due to only minor differences, the results of frequently used reference strains seem to be representative also for clinical isolates in S. aureus.

Design and Coverage Path Planning of a Disinfection Robot

Eliminating pathogen exposure is an important approach to control outbreaks of epidemics such as COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). To deal with pathogenic environments, using disinfection robots is a practicable choice. This research formulates a 3D (three-dimensional) spatial disinfection strategy for a disinfection robot. First, a disinfection robot is designed with an extensible control framework for the integration of additional functions. The robot has eight degrees of freedom that can handle disinfection tasks in complex 3D environments where normal disinfection robots lack the capability to ensure complete disinfection. An ingenious clamping mechanism is designed to increase flexibility and adaptability. Secondly, a new coverage path planning algorithm targeted at the spraying area is used. This algorithm aims to achieve an optimal path via the rotating calipers algorithm after transformation between a 2D (two-dimensional) array and 3D space. Finally, the performance of the designed robot is tested through a series of simulations and experiments in various spaces that humans usually live in. The results demonstrate that the robot can effectively perform disinfection tasks both in computer simulation and in reality.

Implementation of an Environmental Cleaning Protocol in Hospital Critical Areas Using a UV-C Disinfection Robot.

Improving the cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces is one of the core components of reducing healthcare-associated infections. The effectiveness of an enhanced protocol applying UV-C irradiation for terminal room disinfection between two successive patients was evaluated. Twenty high-touch surfaces in different critical areas were sampled according to ISO 14698-1, both immediately pre- and post-cleaning and disinfection standard operating protocol (SOP) and after UV-C disinfection (160 sampling sites in each condition, 480 in total). Dosimeters were applied at the sites to assess the dose emitted. A total of 64.3% (103/160) of the sampling sites tested after SOP were positive, whereas only 17.5% (28/160) were positive after UV-C. According to the national hygienic standards for health-care setting, 9.3% (15/160) resulted in being non-compliant after SOP and only 1.2% (2/160) were non-compliant after UV-C disinfection. Operation theaters was the setting that resulted in being less compliant with the standard limit (≤15 colony-forming unit/24 cm2) after SOP (12%, 14/120 sampling sites) and where the UV-C treatment showed the highest effectiveness (1.6%, 2/120). The addition of UV-C disinfection to the standard cleaning and disinfection procedure had effective results in reducing hygiene failures.

Design and Autonomous Navigation of a New Indoor Disinfection Robot Based on Disinfection Modeling

The COVID-19 pandemic shows growing demand of robots to replace humans for conducting multiple tasks including logistics, patient care, and disinfection in contaminated areas. In this paper, a new autonomous disinfection robot is proposed based on aerosolized hydrogen peroxide disinfection method. Its unique feature lies in that the autonomous navigation is planned by developing an atomization disinfection model and a target detection algorithm, which enables cost-effective, point-of-care, and full-coverage disinfection of the air and surface in indoor environment. A prototype robot has been fabricated for experimental study. The effectiveness of the proposed concept design for automated indoor environmental disinfection has been verified with air and surface quality monitoring provided by a qualified third-party testing agency. Note to Practitioners—Robots are desirable to reduce the risk of human infection of highly contagious virus. For such purpose, a novel autonomous disinfection robot is designed herein for automated disinfection of air and surface in indoor environment. The robot structure consists of a mobile carrier platform and an atomizer disinfection module. The disinfection modeling is conducted by using the measurement data provided by a custom-built PM sensor array. To achieve cost-effective and qualified disinfection, a full-coverage path planning scheme is proposed based on the established disinfection model. Moreover, for specifically disinfecting the frequently contacted objects (e.g., tables and chairs in offices and hospitals), a target perception algorithm is proposed to mark the localization of these objects in the map, which are disinfected by the robot more carefully in these marked areas. Experimental results indicate that the developed disinfection robot offers great effectiveness to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

UV*: A Boustrophedon Pattern-Based Path Planning and Optimization Strategy for an Ultraviolet Disinfection Robot

UV*: A Boustrophedon Pattern-Based Path Planning and Optimization Strategy for an Ultraviolet Disinfection Robot

Survey on Surface Disinfection Robot Using UV Light and Liquid Sanitizer

An Ultraviolet (UV) based sterilization technique acts as a useful aid in pruning the growth of microorganisms that usually persists on the surfaces after the usual procedure of cleaning and sanitizing. A UV robot is being developed for sterilization and sanitization in the operating rooms of hospitals. Surface decontamination is a crucial procedure to prevent the spread of infections in hospitals. The usual procedures of manual cleaning and disinfection are inadequate to eliminate pathogens from the infected and contaminated surfaces. Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) radiation deploying autonomous disinfection control system is being developed to complement the conventional decontamination procedures with a significant reduction of time and concurrent reduction of workload. The UV Robot lowers the transmission of hazardous virus as it can cleanse the areas that are out of human reach. In the view of technology, the development of robots is a part of preventive strategy to overcome the challenges faced by hospitals in a pandemic like situations. It also helps us to increase the effectiveness in battling the pandemic. This robot is also power efficient as it can function for a longer period of time than a human. It can also reduce human interference, also decreasing the risk of contamination of virus.

Design of a Disinfection and Epidemic Prevention Robot Based on Fuzzy QFD and the ARIZ Algorithm

In the present era, against the background of normalized measures of epidemic prevention and control, a multi-function intelligent robot that can completely replace human beings in disinfection and epidemic prevention work needs to be designed in order to contain the spread of viruses at the source, to efficiently and conveniently serve the controlled regions, and to meet the needs of the current context. Existing disinfection robot designs only address the problem of disinfection; there is no disinfection robot that can achieve full-domain and full-space disinfection (including stairs), as well as having multiple epidemic prevention functions. The fuzzy QFD tool and the ARIZ algorithm were used here to solve the problems related to disinfection robots. By using fuzzy QFD as the research framework and combining it with fuzzy AHP to calculate the weight of demand for the disinfection and epidemic prevention robot, the authors further translated the demand into the technical and part characterization of the robot. The conflicts in the fuzzy QFD model were solved using the ARIZ algorithm. Finally, based on the solving principle of the ARIZ algorithm and the qualitative and quantitative conclusions of fuzzy QFD, a robot for disinfection and epidemic prevention was designed in a comprehensive manner. A robot that can completely replace human beings in the tasks of disinfection and epidemic prevention was designed in this work, solving the problems associated with the robot’s ability to climb stairs and realizing the innovation of the robot’s comprehensive disinfection, distribution of materials, real-time monitoring, temperature measurement, and other functions. This study provides a theoretical reference for the design of related products.

The Development and Validation of an Autonomous UVC (Ultraviolet - C) Disinfection Robot System

In this research, we developed an Autonomous UVC robot disinfection system suitable for a healthcare setting. The effectiveness of cleaning with UVC light inspired the design of the robot. The experiment was designed to determine how long, how far, and how much energy would be required to prevent the germs from replicating and kill them as rapidly as possible. The UVC robot is lightweight and simple to move about. The ultraviolet-candelabra (UVC) lamp was used in its construction. UVC light kills bacteria and viruses by interfering with the way their DNA bases couple together. Our experiment involved shutting the UVC robot in a room and observing its behavior. The UVC robot is equipped with four 30W lights that can illuminate an entire room. Within 30 seconds after commencement, samples were placed 60 centimeters from the lights and left there for a time from 0 to 6 minutes. Killing 92% of the germs in 6 minutes is a strong indicator that the suggested approach works effectively. The low initial cost and relatively straightforward nature of the design suggest that it might eventually achieve its full potential.