Disinfection automation

In this area, as in many others, there is a certain technological evolution. The starting point can be considered manual processing: when a person washed the floor and walls with a disinfectant solution. Today, technology has stepped forward and evolved to automatic systems that spray aerosol in rooms for their highly efficient sanitation.

The main driving factors of this evolution are quite obvious.

Firstly, it is a concern for security, which is especially important in the conditions of epidemics. The use of automated technologies, of course, reduces the risk of infection and the spread of viruses.

Secondly, the use of such solutions saves time and money.



“The drone can handle 600,000 square meters. m per day, which is equivalent to the work of 100 people. The company XAG reported that its drones disinfected more than 902 square meters. km in 20 provinces of China as part of the fight against the coronavirus COVID-19, ” writes the BBC.

Chinese UAVs used irrigation, which is used by agricultural drones for plants.


XAG drone during operation.

However,there are UAVs that are also able to spray fine aerosol - “dry fog”.



Automated systems can spray, say, at night and not take up working hours. This is especially true for disinfection inside buildings. Using this approach in hospitals or administrative centers, for example, allows you to minimize adjustments to the work schedule in these institutions. Dry mist


aerosol spraying indoors.

Thirdly, the notorious human factor. No one has canceled it. People due to various reasons - fatigue, stress, banal carelessness or rush - may deviate from the prescribed procedures or perform them insufficiently carefully. Automated technologies lack such “weaknesses”.

"Robots and drones have joined the fight against the virus,
" the headline of the China China Daily is a good description of the current state of affairs.



As already mentioned above, the world leader in the production of agricultural UAVs, the Chinese company XAG, has actively used drones for disinfection in large areas.

It is also interesting that the company created a special fund of 5 million yuan to support voluntary disinfection operations in the regions of China.

The idea was to provide the users of agricultural drones with the necessary technical support so that they could re-profile their drones and start spraying disinfectants in local areas. The approach was focused on agricultural villages, in which often poor sanitary conditions and a weak health system. Here, farmers actively used XAG drones.

Another example is Spain. The first European country to use agricultural drones to fight COVID-19.



The Spanish military uses DJI AGRAS MG-1, as well as DRONEHEXA XL - a drone of the local manufacturer DroneTools. It was reportedthat an area of ​​4000-6000 square meters can be treated with a drone in just 10 minutes, which is 40-60 times faster than manual spraying operations.

There were other countries with similar experiences. Let's take Mexico as an example, which also used drones for disinfection purposes. Mexican drones sprayed chlorine dioxide over parks and other urban areas. Local media reported that the active ingredient used is safe and also used by other countries to combat COVID-19, for example, Australia, China and Spain.


Chlorine dioxide spray on the streets of Merida (Mexico).

Drones are not the only automated solution. Take at least disinfecting cabs / tunnels, which can also be attributed to this category, since they allow processing without human intervention.



In this review, we would like to highlight two more categories, which, in our opinion, deserve more attention. It's about specialized robots and various autonomous disinfecting stations.

“From disinfection and street patrolling to the delivery of food and medicine in quarantine units. Due to the good level of development of artificial intelligence technologies in China, robots have been used at the forefront to contain the spread of new coronavirus pneumonia , ” China Daily .



The media reported more than 30 disinfection robots that were delivered to large hospitals in Wuhan. Their appearance and capabilities varied depending on the model. The functionality of robots is often not limited to disinfection; some of them can measure temperature and distribute medications.





Chinese manufacturers donated several batches of robots to various hospitals for disinfection. Among them are the Chinese leader in robotics - Siasun (transferred 21 robots), Qingdao Webull Intelligent Technology (transferred 30 robots), CloudMinds and others.

“Intelligent robotic products can effectively replace doctors and nurses in some tasks, which reduces their chances of infection. ",Said Lu Yun, director of surgery at the Huangdao campus at the Qingdao University Branch Hospital.

In addition to robots, it is worth noting mobile disinfecting systems, which are used for disinfection in rooms or in vehicles.

Such systems are mainly used where the requirements for disinfection are highest: in hospitals, food production, etc.



There are a number of manufacturers who supply solutions in this area. Some support the aerosol atomization function by the fine dry mist method. One of its features is that there is no wetting effect from such an aerosol and it is used in rooms with electronics.


Disinfection at a university hospital, Japan.

These devices differ in design, starting from simpler ones in the form of a main unit and a sprayer:



ending with more complex ones. With the ability to remote control and automatic operation.


The device from AurraTech .


Domestic mobile hygiene center .

Solutions can be applied at various facilities, including: hospitals, hotels, industrial production, offices, public transport, food processing, ventilation systems, etc.


Disinfection of the bus with "dry fog".

Application in enterprises:







Of course, people participated and continue to participate in disinfection activities. In the same China with all its robots. However, if you carefully look around, it becomes quite obvious that automated solutions expand the geography of their application and allow achieving greater efficiency, not to mention the fact that they allow people to put themselves at less risk in a pandemic.