Mobile service robots can help to ensure that buildings and means of transport are cleaned and disinfected regularly and with consistently high quality. Since October 2020, twelve Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft institutions have been working on the development of new technologies for this field of application. Led by Fraunhofer IPA, the partners are pooling their expertise in the "Mobile Disinfection" (MobDi) research project to contribute to a safe "new normal" in times of pandemic. The project is part of the "Fraunhofer vs. Corona" action program.
The project partners are each developing specialized service robots for disinfecting buildings and means of transport, which disinfect with various tools by wiping, spraying, UV or plasma treatment. Thanks to intelligent perception functions, the disinfection robots will be able to carry out targeted cleaning. Thanks to object recognition and material recognition, robust detection is possible, even if the objects look slightly different in every operating environment.
To ensure targeted and gentle cleaning, the project partners are carrying out tests with the various cleaning and disinfection processes on widely used surface types such as stainless steel and plastics. In addition to analyzing the individual processes, they are also investigating possible combinations of different processes. The Fraunhofer ILT will specifically analyze the combined use of UV and plasma sources. The research and development work is to be put into practice as quickly as possible. Interested manufacturers are welcome to contact the project partners if they would like to participate in the development.
www.mobdi-projekt.de/
