UV Disinfection Robots Help Fight Viruses To Keep Humans Safe

• UV Disinfection robots kill 99.99% of pathogens in high risk areas.
• They utilize ultraviolet light to destroy viruses and bacteria within 15 minutes.
• Already used in many countries around Europe and Asia, it provides effective disinfection and limits human exposure to harmful microorganisms.
• Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there has been an increased interest in the use of these robots.

Standing 171 cm-tall, a UVD Robot is useful in eradicating 99.99% of harmful microorganisms in a potentially risky environment.

The autonomous, battery-powered robot can enter a room and reposition itself near surfaces. No person is required to come in and out of the area. This consequently limits human exposure to danger. Furthermore, the robots are easy to use, and can be operated via a tablet.

In 2014, Blue Ocean Robotics and Odense University Hospital (OUH) formed a partnership with other Danish Hospitals to develop its first prototype.

Used as part of a normal cleaning routine, UVD-robots utilize UV-C light to do the job. It eliminates viruses and bactieria by breaking down the DNA of the microorganism.

It takes approximately 12-15 minutes to disinfect a small patient room with an adjacent bathroom. Moreover, it offers a 360-degree disinfection coverage. Once done with the process, one can smell “ozone,” which is the smell of burnt skin and hair particles in the air.

The Danish company, which produces service robots, attests that these are safe and reliable. They commercially released the UVD Robots in 2018.

In 2019, Blue Ocean Robotics won the “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award in Robotics and Automation (IERA)” for the UVD Robots.

Primarily, their main objective was to prevent Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI’s) for patients and hospital staff. HAI’s pose a significant burden to the health care system.

Yet, the UVD Robots’ work is not limited to hospitals. For instance, airports, hotels, and offices may benefit from the robots as well.

Now, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, more hospitals and companies are currently taking interest in UVD Robots. As Juul Nielsen, CEO OF Blue Ocean Robotics told The Robot Report in an interview, “things were quiet at first” when the virus broke out in 2019. However, in January, they began to receive more inquiries to test the UVD. “Now, everybody’s talking about coronavirus, but we already had a robot to fight bacteria and other viruses,” he said.