Mahindra University students develop UV robot to fight coronavirus

The Mahindra Universite UV Desinfectant Robot Autonome or MUDRA robot can make on-demand and pre-planned disinfections without any human intervention

In a bid to find better ways to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, students of the Mahindra University have developed a robot to disinfect offices, shop floors, laboratories using ultraviolet rays.

Named 'MUDRA', an acronym for Mahindra Universite UV Desinfectant Robot Autonome, the robot can make on-demand and pre-planned disinfections without any human intervention.

The height of the robot is such that it can disinfect most of the surfaces exposed to humans during work.

“We have created MUDRA, an indigenously designed, developed and funded disinfecting robot, that helps in the sanitization of surfaces thereby, ensuring that closed spaces remain infection-free”, Yajulu Medury, Vice-Chancellor, Mahindra University said.

Read: Over 1.8 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in India

Ultraviolet-C (UVC) radiation is a known disinfectant for air, water, and non-porous surfaces, and the US FDA has stated that the UVC rays were known to destroy the outer protein coating of the SARS virus.

“We also ensured that the mechanics design element focused on ensuring coverage of all parts of the closed spaces that could potentially be touched or infected by people,” Deep Seth, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ecole Centrale School of Engineering, Mahindra University said.

MUDRA has been specially designed to navigate autonomously on the floor without needing any extra infrastructure.

The robot maps and plans its path to move around, avoid obstacles and re-chart its path intelligently, moving from room to room on a floor without any human intervention.

In addition, it has the capability to operate elevators and move from one floor to another using Wi-Fi or wireless connectivity.

MUDRA is completely safe and non-hazardous to humans as it automatically switches off its UVC function whenever it detects human presence.