Robots using different technologies are being deployed on the frontline in the fight against Covid-19. Among these robots, disinfection robots are of particular interest. A division of Siemens has produced one such robot in just a week.
Models using hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) and ultraviolet (UV) light are moving through hospitals, health centers, government buildings, and public centers across the globe in a bid to disinfect surfaces. The use of automated air disinfection machines not only reduces human exposure to the virus but is also proving to be more rigorous and effective in decontaminating spaces. Some of the robots incorporate bulbs that emit concentrated ultraviolet-C (UVC) light.
Danish company UVD Robots is manufacturing robots that are able to disinfect patients and operating rooms in hospitals thanks to powerful short-wavelength UVC lights that emit enough energy to eradicate the DNA or RNA of any microorganisms that are exposed to them. US-based Xenex also counts on UVC light to annihilate the virus on “high touch” hard surfaces, such as bed rails, trays and call buttons. Melinda Hart, media relations director at Xenex, explained that the radiation damages the structure of genetic material and prevents particles from making more copies of themselves:
