Robot automates hospital disinfection processes

Thorough disinfection, particularly within hospital environments, was shown to be critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, which also highlighted concerns surrounding labour shortages due to physical fatigue and risk of exposure to pathogens. Additionally, as human performance can be inconsistent and individuals’ compliance with manually conducted disinfection tasks tends to vary, South Korean researchers from POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) turned to robot technology; seeking to better existing solutions — such as UV-C robots and hydrogen peroxide vapour systems — that have limitations in completely removing contaminants hidden in obscured or hard-to-reach areas.

What they came up with is an ‘intelligent autonomous wiping and UV-C disinfection robot’ capable of both navigating hospital environments and performing disinfection tasks — its dual disinfection system being a key feature. This dual system works by, first, utilising a robotic manipulator to physically wipe surfaces and remove contaminants, and second, employing UV-C irradiation to disinfect hard-to-reach corners and narrow spaces. To minimise operational failures, precision control algorithms are used. While to ensure sustained disinfection operations, a self-sanitising station and wireless charging system has been integrated.

Real-world testing of the robot’s performance was undertaken at Pohang St. Mary’s Hospital, with bacterial culture experiments conducted by the research team — to confirm the effectiveness of disinfection, with repeated autonomous operations carried out to verify its long-term usability in clinical settings. The automation of time-consuming and repetitive disinfection tasks is a key advantage of the robot, as is its ability — unlike variability in human performance — to disinfect with consistent precision, significantly reducing the risk of infection within the hospital.