ment rules. Spot walks through a city park telling people he comes across to move a meter away from each other. Thanks to his cameras, he can also estimate the number of people present in the park.

Germ Killer Robots

Disinfection robots have proven their worth in the fight against COVID-19. Models using hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) and ultraviolet (UV) light are now moving through hospitals, health centers, government buildings and public centers across the globe in a bid to disinfect surfaces.

Danish manufacturer UVD Robots builds machines that use an autonomous guided vehicle (AGV), much like those commonly found in industrial environments, as the base for an array of ultraviolet (UV) light transmitters that can destroy viruses.

CEO Per Juul Nielsen confirms that UV light with a wavelength of 254nm has a germicidal effect at a range of about one meter, and the robots have been used for this purpose in hospitals in Europe. He says that one of the machines could typically disinfect a single bedroom in about five minutes while paying particular attention to “high-touch” surfaces such as handrails and door handles.

At Siemens Corporate Technology China, the Advanced Manufacturing Automation (AMA), which has a focus on special and industrial robots; unmanned vehicles; and intelligent equipment for robotic applications, also moved quickly to help tackle the spread of the virus. The laboratory produced an intelligent disinfectant robot in just one week, explains Yu Qi, head of its research group. Its model, which is powered by a lithium battery, distributes a mist to neutralize COVID-19 and can disinfect between 20,000 and 36,000 square meters in one hour.

Preparing for the Next Pandemic With Robots

In industry, robots have also had an important role. They helped ramp up production volumes to meet increased demand for new products created by the pandemic. They were also involved in rapidly reconfiguring operations to make healthcare products such as masks or ventilators.

Enrico Krog Iversen set up Universal Robots, one of the major global suppliers of cobots, which includes a type of automation that he says is particularly pertinent to present circumstances. He explains that the ease with which cobots can be reprogrammed has two important implications. The first is that it facilitates the “rapid reconfiguration of production lines” to allow for the increased physical separation of people that the virus demands. The second is that it allows for the equally rapid introduction of new products which the pandemic has created a demand for.

Iversen believes that when the crisis is over, the demand for cobots will be greater than for more conventional robots.

Robots could also be useful tools to help better prepare for any future pandemics. Iversen also founded OnRobot, a company that manufactures “end effector” devices such as grippers and sensors for robot arms. He confirms that manufacturing companies are now definitely “reaching out to the integrators” for advice on how they can increase their use of automation.

Edited by Lisa