Design of a Dual-Function Autonomous Disinfection Robot with Safety Filter-Based Motion Control

In the post-COVID era, international business and tourism are quickly recovering from the global lockdown, with people and products traveling faster at higher frequency. This boosts the economy while facilitating the spread of pathogens, causing waves of COVID aftershock with new variants like Omicr...

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Main Authors: Yuning Cao , Zehao Wu , I-Ming Chen , Qingsong Xu 
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Robotics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/14/3/26
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author Yuning Cao 
Zehao Wu 
I-Ming Chen 
Qingsong Xu 
author_facet Yuning Cao 
Zehao Wu 
I-Ming Chen 
Qingsong Xu 
author_sort Yuning Cao 
collection DOAJ
description In the post-COVID era, international business and tourism are quickly recovering from the global lockdown, with people and products traveling faster at higher frequency. This boosts the economy while facilitating the spread of pathogens, causing waves of COVID aftershock with new variants like Omicron XBB. Hence, continuous disinfection of our living environments becomes our first priority. Autonomous disinfection robots provide an efficient solution to this issue. Compared to human cleaners, disinfection robots are able to operate tirelessly in harsh environments without increasing the risk of cross-infection. In this paper, we propose the design of a new generation of the Smart Cleaner disinfection robot, which is equipped with both an Ultraviolet-C (UVC) light tower and a hydrogen peroxide (HP) aerosol dispenser. The safety of an autonomous disinfection robot has been a persistent problem, especially when they work in complex environments. To tackle this problem, Hamilton–Jacobi (HJ) reachability is adopted to construct a safety filter for motion control, which guarantees that the disinfection path taken by the robot is collision-free without severely compromising the optimality of control actions. The effectiveness of the developed robot has been demonstrated by conducting extensive experimental studies.
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series Robotics
spelling doaj-art-d94d55ecc68844a5a2a189b37bad8f662025-08-20T01:48:58ZengMDPI AGRobotics2218-65812025-02-011432610.3390/robotics14030026Design of a Dual-Function Autonomous Disinfection Robot with Safety Filter-Based Motion ControlYuning Cao 0Zehao Wu 1I-Ming Chen 2Qingsong Xu 3Department of Electromechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, ChinaDepartment of Electromechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, SingaporeDepartment of Electromechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, ChinaIn the post-COVID era, international business and tourism are quickly recovering from the global lockdown, with people and products traveling faster at higher frequency. This boosts the economy while facilitating the spread of pathogens, causing waves of COVID aftershock with new variants like Omicron XBB. Hence, continuous disinfection of our living environments becomes our first priority. Autonomous disinfection robots provide an efficient solution to this issue. Compared to human cleaners, disinfection robots are able to operate tirelessly in harsh environments without increasing the risk of cross-infection. In this paper, we propose the design of a new generation of the Smart Cleaner disinfection robot, which is equipped with both an Ultraviolet-C (UVC) light tower and a hydrogen peroxide (HP) aerosol dispenser. The safety of an autonomous disinfection robot has been a persistent problem, especially when they work in complex environments. To tackle this problem, Hamilton–Jacobi (HJ) reachability is adopted to construct a safety filter for motion control, which guarantees that the disinfection path taken by the robot is collision-free without severely compromising the optimality of control actions. The effectiveness of the developed robot has been demonstrated by conducting extensive experimental studies.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/14/3/26autonomous disinfection robotmobile robotreachability analysissafety controller
spellingShingle Yuning Cao 
Zehao Wu 
I-Ming Chen 
Qingsong Xu 
Design of a Dual-Function Autonomous Disinfection Robot with Safety Filter-Based Motion Control
Robotics
autonomous disinfection robot
mobile robot
reachability analysis
safety controller
title Design of a Dual-Function Autonomous Disinfection Robot with Safety Filter-Based Motion Control
title_full Design of a Dual-Function Autonomous Disinfection Robot with Safety Filter-Based Motion Control
title_fullStr Design of a Dual-Function Autonomous Disinfection Robot with Safety Filter-Based Motion Control
title_full_unstemmed Design of a Dual-Function Autonomous Disinfection Robot with Safety Filter-Based Motion Control
title_short Design of a Dual-Function Autonomous Disinfection Robot with Safety Filter-Based Motion Control
title_sort design of a dual function autonomous disinfection robot with safety filter based motion control
topic autonomous disinfection robot
mobile robot
reachability analysis
safety controller
url https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/14/3/26
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AT zehaowu designofadualfunctionautonomousdisinfectionrobotwithsafetyfilterbasedmotioncontrol
AT imingchen designofadualfunctionautonomousdisinfectionrobotwithsafetyfilterbasedmotioncontrol
AT qingsongxu designofadualfunctionautonomousdisinfectionrobotwithsafetyfilterbasedmotioncontrol