At just over a meter (0.98 m) tall, the four-wheeled robot may not look like much as it rolls through Singapore’s city office parks, but don’t let that fool you. Equipped with commercial-grade disinfectant and a double-barreled spray gun, Weston Robot’s tiny robot diligently disinfects any high-touch surfaces in its path. Whether it’s being remotely monitored by off-site staff or autonomously navigating empty hotel rooms with an infection-killing UV light, this robot diligently goes where humans no longer should.
Weston Robot designed three new prototype disinfection and temperature-monitoring robots. Each took just 10 days to complete.
The disinfection robot designed by Weston Robot and AgileX. Image credit: AgileX
For decades, humans have been dreaming of ways robots could make their lives easier by taking over tedious or high-risk jobs, but with these disinfectant robots, the dream is more of a necessity.
The global community has been severely impacted by COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus. The disease was classified by the World Health Organization as a pandemic in March 2020, and the virus had infected more than 5 million people worldwide as of June 2020. The virus spreads through respiratory droplets, either entering the body directly by touching our nose and mouth or inhaled by residual particles lingering in the air at distances close to six feet (1.8 m).
As scientists race to understand and develop a vaccine for this virus, prevention efforts have focused on early detection, contact tracing, and diligent disinfection of surfaces and hands, while severely limiting human contact.
For Dr. Yanliang Zhang, managing director and chief scientist of Weston Robot , a Singapore-based robot developer and supplier, using robots to help meet disinfection standards was an obvious choice. Weston Robot designed three new prototype disinfection and temperature-monitoring robots. Each one took just 10 days.
Right place at the (wrong) time
"The first day COVID-19 was announced as infectious in humans, my team got together and said, 'We designed robots. Is there anything we can do to mitigate the spread of the virus?'" Zhang says. "Obviously, we couldn't totally design a new model of robot at that point. Instead, we wanted to leverage what we already have: mobile robots."
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, Weston Robot already had a small arsenal of mobile robots, including compact, wheeled surveillance robots designed for uneven terrain, such as outdoor parks. Rather than starting from scratch designing new robots to combat the virus, the team retrofitted these existing robots with disinfection tools.
"We asked ourselves, 'Can we add something to these robots, for example, a spray gun to spray chemical disinfectant?'" Zhang says.
Although Weston Robot designs other types of robotic solutions, including autonomous cars and exoskeletons, Zhang says the team quickly decided that small robots like these would be the best solution. Not only were they easier to adapt, but they could also help lessen the burden on healthcare and other workers by providing safe, easy-to-control options for disinfection and the delivery of essential goods.
"When this happened, we saw a lot of demand for robots to disinfect and deliver supplies to combat the spread of the virus," Zhang says.
"We saw a lot of demand for robots for disinfection and delivery of supplies to combat the spread of the virus."
- Dr. Yanliang Zhang, Managing Director and Chief Scientist of Weston Robot
This robot, designed by Weston Robot, uses ultraviolet light to disinfect building interiors. Image credit: Weston Robot
Unusual solutions for unusual times
But even with prefabricated mobile robot bodies, creating new prototypes in a matter of days was no small feat. To accomplish the task, the team relied on rapid modeling and simulation using Model-Based Design with MATLAB® and Simulink® . This approach allowed the team to quickly identify and correct emerging issues in their new designs.
"We didn't want to start from scratch. We looked at different components on the market and integrated and tested them."
- Dr. Yanliang Zhang, Managing Director and Chief Scientist of Weston Robot
The first prototype of the disinfection robot. Image credit: Weston Robot
Another way they accelerated their prototyping process was by incorporating off-the-shelf equipment into their existing robots. Zhang says the initial prototype of their disinfectant-spraying robot used a spray gun designed for car washes.
"We didn't want to start from scratch," says Zhang. "We looked for different components on the market and integrated and tested them."
In addition to physically building these robot prototypes, the team also faced some software challenges, namely how to effectively communicate and control these robots to ensure accuracy and safety in the environments where they are deployed.
To overcome these design obstacles, the team decided to use 4G to remotely control the robots in less predictable environments, such as outdoor robots roaming through parks. This approach allows them to better control where disinfectants are sprayed and ensure the safety of the robot, as well as human bystanders.
In indoor environments, instead of having the robot spray potentially dangerous disinfectants, the team opted for ultraviolet lights and pre-programmed autonomous motion maps, similar to how a robot vacuum would move through a map of your living room to clean.
After rigorous prototyping and trial-and-error testing of each idea, the team emerged with three prototypes: an outdoor robot designed to spray chemical disinfectant in environments like industrial parks and shopping malls; an indoor robot equipped with a UV light column designed to noninvasively disinfect environments like dormitories and hotels; and a hand sanitizer and tissue delivery robot equipped with an infrared camera to take people's temperatures.
Each robot weighs about 100 pounds (45 kg) and stands no taller than 3.3 feet (1 m). The outdoor robot can carry 8 gallons (30 L) of disinfectant and cover nearly 4 acres (14,800 square meters) on a single charge, and the indoor disinfection robot can cover 10 to 15 rooms on the same charge.
Taking these robots from prototype to finished product took another month and was accomplished with the help of Agile X, a mobile robot manufacturing company in China.
"For the final product, we redevelop everything," says Zhang. "Agile X is very good at hardware manufacturing, so they can quickly realize your idea and conduct product assembly testing there. During the lockdown, it's very difficult for us to source components from the supply chain, but they're very good at making the entire robot given our design specifications."
The disinfection robot can be controlled remotely. The robot's cameras provide the operator with a view of the robot's surroundings. Image credit: Weston Robot
Preparing for the new normal
These robots have already begun rolling out in Italy and China, and more are expected to be delivered worldwide in June. As Weston Robot continues to refine its designs, Zhang says the team has already begun to learn lessons about what types of robots the public wants to interact with and what types they don't.
The temperature-monitoring robot wasn't originally designed to deliver hand sanitizer and tissues, but Zhang says people found the robot too intrusive when it was just a camera.
"People can feel like they're being monitored all the time," says Zhang. "So my team said, 'Let's try to make this robot a little gentle.' For example, we now provide some hand sanitizer and tissue paper with the robot so people will proactively approach the camera and the robot. We made the robots friendlier and more approachable."
As these robots continue to be used both during the worst of the pandemic and afterward to prevent additional waves of infection, the team wants to ensure they are as intuitive to use and easy to interact with as possible. To that end, the team has allowed workers to control them via a computer tablet after a few simple lessons.
Weston Robot is seeking certifications that ensure the safety of batteries and other internal components and help make these robots "street legal" in more locations around the world. However, those certifications are currently on hold as a result of global lockdowns.
This robot monitors temperatures to detect possible infections. It also provides hand sanitizer and tissues. Image credit: Weston Robot
To ensure the robots are as intuitive to use and easy to interact with as possible, the team has allowed workers to control them via a computer tablet after a few simple lessons.
"We have to make sure it passes all the certifications," Zhang says. "But right now, even the certification center is closed."
These certifications aren't required during the robots' testing phase, but they'll be at the top of Weston Robot's list when countries begin to reopen. In the meantime, these robots will begin their work ensuring the "new normal" is as safe as possible.
