Social distancing has become the number one way to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus. All around the world people are staying in their homes in an effort to allow essential and health care workers the chance to get ahead of the virus. To make sure these workers can get their jobs done, it is vital that they have clean environments to work in. Cleaning crews are constantly disinfecting hospitals and grocery stores. Delivery companies are ensuring their vehicles and equipment are wiped down on a regular basis. In China both private civilians and large companies have used drones to spray outdoor spaces with disinfectant. Spain also followed suit when the Spanish Military Emergency Unit began using commercial agricultural drones made by DJI and DroneTools to spray large areas to kill the virus. The World Economic Forum has been touting the use of drone technology in these times, going on to say, “drones need to be integrated into planned health responses.”

Agricultural drones are excellent tools for killing off the virus because they can cover large areas in a short amount of time. The chemicals can be spread in a far reaching effective mist to clean roadways, hand rails, buildings, doorknobs, entryways, and more common areas. In times like this, these are critical measures to stop the spread of the disease. However, these drones can only be use in outdoor spaces. Though the drones can technically be flown in large indoor spaces, spraying a wet disinfectant could cause indoor surfaces and supplies to be damaged. This is where Lenexa, KS autonomous aviation specialists, Digital Aerolus, comes into play with a drone that can be used to disinfect indoor spaces.

Founded in 2017 by Jeff Alholm (the creator of the first ever smart phone) and Rod Underdown, Digital Aerolus creates drones and navigation systems entirely at their Kansas warehouse. As described on their website, “Digital Aerolus designs and develops autonomous technology for any vehicle that flies, drives, dives, or swims. Our company’s autonomous operating system is called the Mind of Motion framework. This system combines Artificial Intelligence (AI) with multi-dimensional mathematics, creating a breakthrough in autonomous mobility. Our autonomous operating system allows vehicles to operate fully independent of traditional navigational aids such as GPS, VOP, LORAN, magnetic bearings, optical flow, or similar external navigational aids.” This allows them to build some of the most advanced drones for indoor, hard to reach areas. Their drones can fit in tight spaces like tunnels or under desks and chairs. The drone is designed in a way to protect itself and the environment it is in while maintaining steady flight and accuracy.

Already having a drone that could successfully be used indoors, the team at Digital Aerolus made some design tweaks to make a drone that could be used to sanitize indoor environments like a hospital or even an airplane. The new model they came up with is called the Aertos 120-UVC Indoor Disinfection Drone. They took their already existing Aertos model and equipped it with a technology that has long been known to be capable of killing the DNA found in viruses like the Coronavirus. This technology is UVC light (Ultra Violet C light) which when used at a wavelength of 265 nanometers can have, as pointed out by Digital Aerolus, “As a general rule if greater than 3 milli-Joules of energy can be delivered to a cm by cm surface, then a greater than 99% disinfection rate is achieved.”

Using UVC light to disinfect surfaces is not a new concept, it has been around for years. The problem with it is that the light that kills the virus DNA can also be harmful to human DNA. “It’s like the worst sunburn that you’ve ever had in your entire life, and it happens within seconds,” said Digital Aerolus director of product and business development Jameson Huckaba. In the past, to be able to use UVC light an operator had to wear protective gear and shine the light from high above for a longer period of time to be effective. With a drone, those precautions are eliminated. The Aertos 120-UVC is capable of flying through a complex environment without being guided by a pilot. Still, the drone has an onboard camera to allow a pilot to assist in flight to ensure that every inch of an environment is covered by the UVC light.

Already the Aertos 120-UVC has been tested to disinfect a daycare facility. The drone was able to completely sanitize above and below the tables, chairs, play structures, toys, sinks, multi textured surfaces, carpets, books, everything in the room. “Generally speaking, the drone will disinfect approximately one thousand cubic feet every 10 minutes and you can consider (a room) clean at that point,” said Huckaba. “We just wanted to create something that was helpful to people. We’re taking a look at hospital rooms and airplanes for instance. We’re able to fly this drone inside an empty airplane and disinfect tray tables and seats. We’re actually able to fly it under the seats to disinfect those spaces or kill whatever sorts of nasty pathogens happen to be hanging out in that space.”

The Aertos 120-UVC is not available for purchase just yet as there are still some minor issues to work out. One issue is a common one when it comes to drones, battery life. A typical drone can only fly for about 20-30 minutes. The Aertos line of drones uses a ducted fan that gives the drone a bit of a longer flight, but they goal is to get a flight time that would allow the drone enough time to sanitize larger indoor spaces. They plan to have drones ready for sale by May to help curb the Coronavirus pandemic. As CEO Jeff Alholm said, “As this global crisis has unfolded, we’ve been committed to developing an innovative and accessible solution to wage war against COVID-19 and mitigate the risk to humans worldwide. Like many others, we are innovating to combat this horrible virus, and we’re focused on how we can use our unique technology to deliver pathogen-killing energy in challenging environments. Using UVC energy to disinfect isn’t new, but our delivery method is. The method matters, because it helps to keep people safe amid a pandemic.”