Singapore rolls out autonomous UV disinfection robot that can (maybe) kill the coronavirus

A global pandemic (just like the one we’re going through right now) would mean that the time is nigh for the world to start deploying robots en masse. Machines can’t get infected, after all. 

Singapore-listed company DiSa (apparently short for Digital Safety) Pte Ltd just unveiled the country’s first UV Disinfection Autonomous Mobile Robot, an automaton built to counter the eruption of Covid-19 infections. 

Technologically, the robot’s not that huge of a leap — DiSa basically stuck some ultraviolet-emitting tubes onto a self-driving computer. The concept involves using a disinfection method that uses short-wavelength ultraviolet (UV-C) light powerful enough to irradiate microorganisms like bacteria and viruses to death. It’s the same tech you see at those 10-minute haircut joints, where barbers sterilise their tools in UV lightboxes. 

The idea here is that the robot can make its way around rooms by itself as the UV-C tubes kill microbes in its vicinity. Equipped with laser sensors, the robot is able to map out a room’s layout before being able to automatically (and wirelessly) disinfect areas. 

It can also detect obstacles and avoid them without assistance. Useful, because the dosage of UV-C is hazardous to humans, so people can’t be inside the room while the robot makes its rounds. DiSa estimates that it would take just 15 minutes for the machine to disinfect a room, though the company never specified the size of the room.

It only took two months for DiSa to develop the project, which the company is very proud of. The company’s CEO and founder Eddie Chng believes that the robot will offer better disinfection methods in lieu of time-consuming manual procedures, which he says are inevitably “prone to human error and inconsistencies”. 

“360-degree UV sanitisation methods are extremely thorough, and are able to target hard-to-reach areas to ensure high hygiene standards are met,” he declared. “Automation is the future and will greatly assist humans in times of crisis such as this.”

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DiSa is hardly the first to think of a robot that shoots UV rays at viruses. Since last year, Danish firm UVD Robots have been producing UV disinfection robots which have seen accelerated orders from buyers in China and Europe of late. 

Despite its relative advantages, these drones aren’t likely to offer comprehensive protection against Covid-19. UV-C light is still light, and if light waves are blocked by objects, areas that can’t receive the light won’t be disinfected. Plus, the jury is still out on whether UV devices can actually kill the coronavirus, which is a new virus breed. But it’s also not unreasonable to think that it could since studies on SARS and MERS have shown that UV light can inactivate the viruses. 

In any case, DiSa will soon roll out their UV-slinging robots at major retails stores and commercial properties, with plans to produce a smaller version for home usage, which could be launched as soon as the second half of 2020. 

ilyas@asiaone.com