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The company Alcora, located in Zaragoza and specialized in environmental health, markets this robot that is operated with remote control and allows an ICU box to be disinfected in about 20 minutes in complete safety.
The race against time to end the coronavirus has led companies and health centers to adopt disinfection mechanisms in which innovation and technology are the protagonists. One of them is the disinfection of spaces through ultraviolet (UV) light, whose effectiveness in eliminating pathogens is close to 99,96%.
Thanks to its effectiveness, the use of this type of radiation has been common to sterilize facilities and surfaces since it was discovered in 1878. In fact, the Ministry of Health recognizes that scientific evidence “suggests that UV-C devices would reduce the viral population, in an easy and fast way.” Although it is not only viruses that succumb to this radiation, as it is also effective in destroying bacteria and fungi. And, at certain wavelengths, ultraviolet C light deactivates the DNA and RNA of these microorganisms, preventing their replication.
Disinfection of an ICU in 15 minutes
The Zaragoza company Alcora and the Argentine UV Robotics have put the most cutting-edge technology at the service of the fight against covid-19 and have joined forces to offer UVR-bot, a robot capable of disinfecting an ICU box in just over 15 minutes through ultraviolet light. And the use of UV light to disinfect spaces is "safer than the use of conventional chemical products," they explain in the press release.
They assure that "the application of the latter is slower and more tedious and, in addition, can pose risks for those who inhale them", which is why cleaning with ultraviolet light eliminates the "safety period" that must be expected after using disinfectant products. conventional since once the disinfection is finished, the room can be used again immediately. “This technology allows us to establish less polluting guidelines for the environment, a better use of resources and an obvious health benefit for humans by not exposing them to the risks derived from the use of chemical products,” explains Miguel Sánchez, manager of Alcora Salud. .
Artificial intelligence to increase your precision
The robot has a size and usability that allow it to be very versatile to be applied not only to the healthcare field and has a remote control that can be used with an app and that makes it unbeatable in terms of precision.
In addition, it has 16 30W tubes of germicidal UV-C light arranged in a 360-degree arrangement so that the light reaches any corner and with an omnidirectional platform that facilitates its movement. This allows you to intervene to disinfect buses, planes and other means of transport, waiting rooms, senior centers, schools, banks, hotels, elevators or toilets.
In the creation of this robot, people's safety has also taken precedence, since when it is operated remotely it is not necessary for anyone to be exposed to contaminated environments to disinfect them. Thanks to artificial intelligence and its cameras and sensors, which work like its brain and eyes, UVR-bot maps the room and calculates the time and position it should be in at all times. Likewise, if during the process it detects the presence of humans, it immediately stops disinfection.
Furthermore, the UVR-bot is not alone in the battle against the coronavirus, since its developers have created other devices based on the same technology for cleaning spaces and objects. Alcora also continues working to offer air purification and surface disinfection treatments with cold plasma and antimicrobial copper treatments.
