Project description
Α robot that kills germs without harming humans
Ultraviolet (UV) light is widely used to disinfect all kinds of surfaces at hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and other settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, UV radiation can be harmful to humans. The EU-funded AVRICS project will bring to market a disinfection robot that uses UV light to kill pathogens but keeps away from humans. Harnessing the power of robotic navigation and computer vision, the robot (named Violet) can work autonomously around people. This way, rooms do not need to be evacuated for disinfection. When tested in real clinical settings, Violet proved to be three times more effective at killing germs and up to four times faster than current disinfection approaches.
Objective
Akara is a spin-out from one of Europe’s leading robotics labs at Trinity College Dublin. The founders collectively boast more than 40 years’ experience developing and deploying some of the most advanced robotic systems ever built to support front-line workers in the healthcare industry; last year one solution was featured on the cover of Time magazine, a first for a European company. Akara offers ‘Violet’, an AI-powered autonomous robot equipped with UV light – a scientifically proven germ-killer - for disinfection of hospitals, nursing homes and potentially endless other areas where harmful germs reside. ‘Violet’ has been extensively tested in real clinical settings resulting in: 3X more effective at killing germs; 2-4X less time to disinfect rooms than the current approach. Violet is the only UV robot designed to be safe for use around people; this overcomes fundamental limitations of state-of-the-art disinfection technology, which require rooms to be evacuated before and during use.
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-EIC-ACC-BF - HORIZON EIC Accelerator Blended FinanceCoordinator
D08 Px8h Dublin
Ireland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.