Surface-aware Ultra Violet disinfection through a mobile manipulator

A crucial requirement in combating COVID-19 pandemic is to minimize the probability of contagion in every place shared by several people, especially in confined indoor workplaces and in the hospitals. Current ordinary disinfection processes are carried out by human operators who employ cleansers and specific disinfectants. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a disinfection technique that uses UV light to inactivate a pathogen. This process blocks the ability of a virus pathogen to replicate, by inducing the formation of covalent bonds in its nucleic acids, which leads to its mutation and makes it non-infectious. The optimal wavelength for the germicidal purpose is 254 nm which falls into the so-called UV-C band and is typically used in conventional disinfecting tool. However, UV-C light can harm human eyes and skin and the damage entity depends on the exposure duration and the intensity of the irradiation. For this reason, a robotic solution can help to prevent the human operator from being accidentally exposed to the UV source, as well as to the potential presence of pathogens. To this end, we propose a mobile robotic manipulator, equipped with a UV source as an end effector. We aim to ensure an efficient yet complete UV irradiation of complex surfaces and objects inside buildings, by exploiting the dexterity given by the manipulator to properly move and orient the UV emitting source.