“Corona-Killing” UV Bots Could Be Deployed At Military Bases

Last week President Trump suggested that injecting ultraviolet light into the body could be one method in killing COVID-19. Then, a biotech company, with unproven science, touted it could send a catheter into the throat of a patient, emitting UV rays into the body to defeat the virus.

The push for UV products in today’s public health crisis is expected to increase, thanks to President Trump’s comments. A search trend for “does UV light kill coronavirus” has recently soared: 

Now a robotics company is retrofitting war robots with a UV disinfection system to kill the virus in enclosed spaces. 

Ralph Petroff, president of the North America branch of Marathon Targets, spoke with Military.com about the four-wheeled autonomous robots that could soon be deployed at military bases for UV disinfecting operations.

“If you need them for target practice, you use them for target practice; if you need them for corona-killing, you use them for corona-killing,” Petroff said.

He said his company has been acquiring UV disinfecting panels. Retrofitting each robot takes a matter of hours, and he said military installations had expressed interest. 

Marathon’s specifications of the robot show that it emits 110 watts via a vertical UV mount light fixture. The light takes about one minute to disinfect a surface one foot away and a little over six minutes to sterilize from five feet away.

The science behind UV lights killing COVID-19 is still questionable. Petroff said he has plans to double the wattage of the light fixture to ensure effectiveness.

The market for UV disinfection has been small over the years, but since President Trump touted UVs last week, the market could rapidly grow.

“The UV part is the easy part,” he said. “Trying to get an autonomous robot to walk around without bumping into things and knowing where it is at all times is the hard part. We mastered that a long time ago.”

We mentioned in March that “COVID-19 is very vulnerable to UV light and heat.” If UV light is proven effective against the virus, we suspect there will be a lot more interest in UV products.