In early March of this year, states throughout the United States of America began entering into a period of quarantine. By April, nearly the entire world was under lockdown in an effort to slow down the spread of a worldwide pandemic, the Coronavirus also known as COVID-19. No shopping, no restaurants, no theaters, no schools, no amusement parks, no sports venues. The only things left open were businesses deemed “essential” such as grocery, medical, and postal services. Over the last six months, a lot has been learned about how COVID-19 spreads, and slowly lockdown measures have been lifting. By the end of August, most local businesses had resumed normal hours and schools opened their doors for students to return.

The gradual lift from quarantine of course has come with plenty of restrictions. The CDC recommends that when people do venture out into public they maintain social distancing and wear a mask, as well as frequently washing their hands. But what has become apparent is that people are needing to find some sense of normalcy. One way people are trying to reclaim this normalcy is by getting ready for a favorite autumn pastime, football season. Having a team to cheer on, the adrenaline of competition, and the entertainment that comes with watching a football game gives people hope that soon we will return to life as usual. The question has become how to best approach a football season without putting anyone at undue risk of COVID-19.

As college and professional teams returned to their stadiums to play football, fans everywhere rejoiced. For now, most games are not being played with an audience in the stadium. Several stadiums are opening to the public at a limited capacity of about 20%. In an effort to allow fans back into the stands to watch a live game, drones are being called upon to ensure spectator safety. The Atlanta Falcons just announced that they will open the doors of their stadium for their next home game with the help of Lucid Drones to disinfect the stands.

Established in 2017 by Andrew Ashur, David Danielson, and Adrian Mayans out of Charlotte, NC, Lucid Drones develops industrial cleaning drones. Long before COVID-19 demanded the increased cleaning of public spaces, Lucid Drones was formed to simplify a necessary process. The exterior cleaning of buildings and their windows covered in grime from common pollutants like car exhaust. Typically, to clean a building’s exterior would mean having to send a crew up on a scaffold to do the job manually. Having to go floor by floor to manually wash windows on a scaffold is dangerous and time consuming. The cleaning agents used are different than common household cleaners and can be caustic to people as well.

Lucid Drone’s first drone, the C1 Cleaning Drone removes the need for humans to put themselves at risk while cleaning buildings and windows. When a licensed operator from Lucid Drone arrives on site, their drone is ready to get to work within 5 minutes. The hexacopter is tethered to a hose on the ground that provides a proprietary cleanser that is sprayed from a nozzle jutting out from the drone. The drones work with a soft wash cleaning system that utilizes eco-friendly chemicals rather than damaging power washing. In a fraction of the time, the drone is able to clean a building from top to bottom. As Andrew Ashur said, the drones allow cleaning companies to “be safer, faster, and more cost effective on their jobs. This means less hassle and more revenue for our customers.”

In 2019, Lucid Drones completed their last round of funding, raising over $1 million to move their operation to the next level. With the monies raised, Lucid Drones developed a new drone that could cater to the needs of a post COVID-19 world, the D1 Disinfecting Drone. Like the C1, this new drone is easy to use and comes equipped with obstacle avoidance sensors that allow it to navigate safely, even in adverse weather. The D1 is slightly smaller so that is can fit into smaller spaces to sanitize any surface, and has an onboard tank that is easy to refill with any disinfecting solution.

Lucid Drones has been tasked with sanitizing the Atlanta Falcons Mercedes-Benz Stadium when it opens its doors at limited capacity on October 11, 2020. The drones will be used to spray disinfectant throughout the seating area before and after the game. The stadium’s representatives expect that the drones will reduce the time needed to sanitize the massive stadium by 95%. “This stadium is incredibly large and as we begin to slowly welcome fans back, these drones allow us to maximize the time between games and private events to thoroughly sanitize,” operations manager Jackie Poulakos said in a statement. “We are always challenged by leadership to continually innovate and this new technology is the ideal solution to effectively disinfect and sanitize our stadium in an efficient manner.”

From February 1918 to April 1920, the Spanish flu infected an estimated 500 million people and claimed the lives of approximately 50 million across the globe. In September of 1920, the National Football League was established. When people had the opportunity to go to football games it helped to heal the spirits of the nation. Whether you are a fan of football or not, seeing games resume and stadiums opening can give hope that the world is beginning to heal. A century ago technology to speed up the healing process was not available. Now, with drones, we can look towards a future of normalcy once again.