Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Robots, UV Lights and Virus-Killing Seat Covers

With the rapid spread of COVID-19, companies have been forced to do what they should have been doing for a very long time: be clean. This is especially prominent in airplanes, where before COVID, would clean the trash from the rows between flights and only do a true cleaning once a month. People were uncomfortable returning to airplanes after the rise in COVID-19 cases, so airplane companies increased their cleanliness to entice people to come back to flying. 

One way some companies have proposed to clean their planes between flights is the use of a robot that would clean up to 99% of germs on the plane within 5 minutes. This sanitizing robot looks like a beverage cart and pushes itself through the cabin and, using cameras and a laser sensor, cleans surfaces within 5 feet.

Another way is by pushing a high-intensity UV light through the cabin to kill all the germs on the plane. This technology has already been used in hospitals, so it is proven to kill all viruses on surfaces and even viruses in respiratory droplets in the air. This is actually already being used in nine airlines, including Qatar Airways and Brazil's Azul.

And finally, some plane companies are developing a spray to put on the seat covers that would kill any viruses that land on it. A virus won't spread as easy if it can't land on the seat, so this could also be a very effective way to keep airplanes clean.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-01-25/of-robots-uv-lights-and-virus-killing-seat-covers 

-Lauren Burch

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