Robot Development and Path Planning for Indoor Ultraviolet Light Disinfection

Conroy, Jonathan; Thierauf, Christopher; Rule, Parker; Krause, Evan; Akitaya, Hugo A.; Gonczi, Andrei; Korman, Matias; Scheutz, Matthias

doi:10.1109/icra48506.2021.9561405

Cited by 19 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Another problem studied in automated planning is the complete Coverage Path-Planning (CPP) problem, where the objective is to find an optimal or quasi-optimal path that covers every area in the region (we call such a path a complete coverage path of the region). This problem has many practical applications, such as: a) robotic vacuum-cleaning ( Viet et al., 2013 ; Yakoubi and Laskri, 2016 ; Edwards and Sörme, 2018 ; Liu et al., 2018 ); b) underwater autonomous vehicles (AUVs) ( Zhu et al., 2019 ; Han et al., 2020 ; Yordanova and Gips, 2020 ); c) 3d printing using fused deposition modeling ( Lechowicz et al., 2016 ; Afzal et al., 2019 ; Gupta, 2021 ); d) window washer robots ( Farsi et al., 1994 ; Dr.; John Dhanaseely and Srinivasan, 2021 ); e) disinfection of regions ( Conroy et al., 2021 ; Nasirian et al., 2021 ; Vazquez-Carmona et al., 2022 ); f) minesweeping ( Healey, 2001 ; Williams, 2010 ; Ðakulovic and Petrovic, 2012 ); g) agriculture and farming ( Oksanen and Visala, 2009 ; Jin, 2010 ; Santos et al., 2020 ); h) surveillance drones ( Ahmadzadeh et al., 2008 ; Modares et al., 2017 ; Vasquez-Gomez et al., 2018 ); i) search and rescue aerial drones ( Hayat et al., 2020 ; Ai et al., 2021 ; Cho et al., 2021 ). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fast and optimal branch-and-bound planner for the grid-based coverage path planning problem based on an admissible heuristic function

Gareau

Beaudry²

2023

Front. Robot. AI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper introduces an optimal algorithm for solving the discrete grid-based coverage path planning (CPP) problem. This problem consists in finding a path that covers a given region completely. First, we propose a CPP-solving baseline algorithm based on the iterative deepening depth-first search (ID-DFS) approach. Then, we introduce two branch-and-bound strategies (Loop detection and an Admissible heuristic function) to improve the results of our baseline algorithm. We evaluate the performance of our planner using six types of benchmark grids considered in this study: Coast-like, Random links, Random walk, Simple-shapes, Labyrinth and Wide-Labyrinth grids. We are first to consider these types of grids in the context of CPP. All of them find their practical applications in real-world CPP problems from a variety of fields. The obtained results suggest that the proposed branch-and-bound algorithm solves the problem optimally (i.e., the exact solution is found in each case) orders of magnitude faster than an exhaustive search CPP planner. To the best of our knowledge, no general CPP-solving exact algorithms, apart from an exhaustive search planner, have been proposed in the literature.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…e) disinfection of regions ( Conroy et al., 2021 ; Nasirian et al., 2021 ; Vazquez-Carmona et al., 2022 );…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fast and optimal branch-and-bound planner for the grid-based coverage path planning problem based on an admissible heuristic function

Gareau

Beaudry²

2023

Front. Robot. AI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To enable autonomous operation capabilities of disinfecting mobile robots such as Paul-222, there is a need for design of efficient path planning and motion control algorithms for such robots. Indeed, a variety of different algorithms for disinfecting mobile robots such as an improved A * algorithm, 12 a genetic algorithm-optimized artificial potential field scheme, 13 an atomization disinfection model-based algorithm, 14 and a linear programming (LP)-based way-point selection algorithm 15 have been proposed in the literature. However, there are very few works that take into consideration the viral/microbial decay dynamics for the design of such path planning and motion control algorithms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobile disinfection robot control optimization based on far-UVC light irradiance modeling

Mohammadi

Rawashdeh

2023

Autonomous Systems: Sensors, Processing, and Security for Ground, Air, Sea, and Space Vehicles and Infrastructure 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We propose a general mobile robot velocity and distance control design framework that relies on using the Keitz irradiance-flux equation relating the measured irradiance and the output power of far-UVC light fixtures along with an exponential decay model for evaluating the survival of viruses and pathogens subjected to far-UVC exposure. Our mathematical framework is capable of computing the optimal distance from vertical target surfaces. Furthermore, given a moving mobile robot rover base with UV light towers mounted on it, we formulate a suitable optimal control problem to derive the optimal velocity profile of the mobile robot for achieving efficient disinfection in terms of disinfection time and energy expenditure.

show abstract

“…Existing UVC-based disinfection robots fall into two main categories: a mobile platform with UVC lamps installed on the top or side, or a mobile manipulator with a UVC LED array embedded into the end-effector. Examples of both types of platforms include the following: The I-Robot UVC (Moez, 2020), which is equipped with two UVC lamps on the top and eight lamps around the central column, and whose disinfection effect was evaluated by remotely detecting the disinfection time. The mobile UVC lamps in Time Medical System (2020) presented a superior software system, including environment mapping and semi-autonomous navigation. The research in Conroy et al (2021) offered an effective equipment support system for indoor operation, such as a long-term power supply system and high payload performance, with an optimized path-planning algorithm. Manufactured by Xenex (a Texas-based company), the “Little Moe” UVC-lamp disinfection robot (CBS News, 2021) has been clinically used in local hospitals and has a short disinfection process. The robot in Pacharawan et al (2019) comprises three 19.3-W UV lamps, placed 35 cm away from the robot, configured in an all-round radiation design. With an embedded Raspberry Pi system to achieve navigation and collision detection, it has a disinfection efficiency of under 8 s. The robot in Vyshnavi et al (2020) is equipped with three 20-W UV lamps, an embedded Arduino system and PIR sensors, and has the ability to generate a pre-defined path and detect its surroundings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The research in Conroy et al (2021) offered an effective equipment support system for indoor operation, such as a long-term power supply system and high payload performance, with an optimized path-planning algorithm.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a UVC-based disinfection robot

Xue

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose The disinfection robot developed by the authors and team focuses on achieving fast and precise disinfection under a given or specific disinfection zone. This looks to solve problems with traditional robots that pay less attention to the level, efficiency and zones of disinfection. To effectively support and guarantee normal running for the whole system, a digital twin system is applied to the disinfection robot. This study aims to achieve fast, precise and thorough disinfection via the developed mobile robot. Design/methodology/approach The designed robot is composed primarily of the following three parts: a mobile platform, a six-axis robotic arm and a ultraviolet-C (UVC) LED array. The UVC LED array is installed on the end-effector to achieve large-scale, precise manipulation. The adoption of all types of advanced sensors and the development of an intuitive and user-friendly client interface are helpful in achieving remote control, path planning, data monitoring and custom disinfection functions. Findings Disinfection of three different locations in the laboratory was performed; the dosage distribution of the surface as radiated by the UVC robot was detected; and feasibility of development was validated. Originality/value The developed disinfection robot achieved fast, precise and thorough disinfection for a given or specific disinfection zone.

show abstract

Robot Development and Path Planning for Indoor Ultraviolet Light Disinfection

Cited by 19 publications

References 17 publications

Fast and optimal branch-and-bound planner for the grid-based coverage path planning problem based on an admissible heuristic function

Fast and optimal branch-and-bound planner for the grid-based coverage path planning problem based on an admissible heuristic function

Mobile disinfection robot control optimization based on far-UVC light irradiance modeling

Development of a UVC-based disinfection robot

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About