Robots to the Rescue: The Future of Environmental Disinfection

Disinfecting indoor environments has taken the form of innovative technology in recent years. Here is a closer look at these developments in cleaning and disinfection. 

Robots Helping Humans

Environmental cleaning and disinfection is a process that can incorporate cleaning staff, manual disinfection procedures, and the use of disinfection technologies.

Cleaning staff may work to perform manual cleanings at 24-hour and end-of-day intervals, respectively. They may also use technologies that can supplement both processes, such as disinfection robots.¹

Robots for Disinfection

Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection robots are mobile robots that operate autonomously to disinfect indoor surfaces. They use Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI), or the application of ultraviolet light, to deactivate microorganisms.

UVD Robots are UV disinfection robots, using UVGI with:

• Mobility,
• Self-navigating capabilities, and
• High levels of efficacy.
  
  Use of these robots has been associated with over 3-log reductions in selected microorganisms, representing a reduction rate of over 99.9%.

UVD Robots for Disinfection

UVD Robots are a series of mobile, self-driving robots that use Ultraviolet (UV) light for disinfection.² They are produced by Blue Ocean Robotics, a Danish company that develops mobile robots for the service industry.³

UVD Robots use 254-nanometer (nm) Ultraviolet C (UV-C) light to disinfect surfaces of microorganisms such as:

• Staphylococcus aureus, and
• Escherichia coli.
  
  In laboratory conditions, 254nm UV-C light has been associated with over 3-log to over 7-log reductions of these microorganisms, representing reduction rates of over 99.9% to over 99.99999%.⁴
  
  UVD Robots provide a mobile, autonomous solution for the UV disinfection of indoor environments. With self-navigating capabilities and very high efficacy rates, UVD Robots offer a new technology to help people in the realm of environmental disinfection.