This year, we have a hard time and experience a special new year. Cornavirous epidemic is raging in Hong Kong. In the past few months, the number of local diagnoses in Hong Kong has remained above the level of about 70 cases per day, and has dropped to a single number recently. The situation is worrying, we expect the fourth epidemic seasons. But at the same time, the residents and employees of the company are exposed to a high-risk environment for a long time. Once they are infected, the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, we believe that prevention and control must be done thoroughly to keep risks to a minimum.
In July 2020, our Bonbon Robotics Company introduced a Disinfection epidemic prevention robot – Thunder. It was specially modified by the AgileX Robotics Company because of the Covid-19 epidemic. The Hunter robot chassis became a THUNDER disinfection and anti-epidemic mechanical vehicle. This is a wheeled-type mechanical vehicle that can remotely control by human. Two buckets of 15-liter disinfection solution can be installed on the left and right sides, and the solution can be sprayed from 2 meters to 8 meters distance. The vehicle uses a diaphragm pump for the food and pharmaceutical industries. It has anti-corrosion properties and can be added to disinfection solutions such as bleach or other disinfection solvent. The equipped smart disinfection spraying kit is equipped with a one-key activation of a large capacity to achieve 360-degree freedom and all-round spraying.
In the busy city like Hong Kong, we rarely see such kind of robots roaming the streets and alleys. This time we came to the footbridge next to the Wan Chai Government Revenue Building. Benefits from barrier-free facilities that the government has built many years ago, it was originally convenient It is designed for people with disabilities. Fortunately, the size of a mechanical vehicle - Thunder is just enough to enter the elevator door for transport.
In Wan Chai Harbour Road Park, the THUNDER machine car climbed up the slope for disinfection and epidemic prevention work. Even if under the scorching sunlight, our staff still can remotely control the machine car for spray disinfection work. The green indicator light above is prompting us that the work is in progress, otherwise it will prompt with a red light.
The THUNDER anti-epidemic mechanical vehicle can walk by itself, and the remote-control operation is simple and easy to use, which is suitable for different people to control and operate. Passers-by are surprised and interesting at the outstanding appearance of robots. It seems that the public is just beginning to realize the behavior toward robots.
We also bring the THUNDER disinfection robot to the church community center of Anda Village near Kwun Tong for rapid air space sanitization. The THUNDER disinfection robot can spray 1.5 liters of solution per minute, and the size of the water droplets is about 100 microns. Therefore, we must spray carefully when we perform disinfection work. To audio equipment, electronic products and so on. However, the THUNDER disinfection robot cannot enter certain indoor locations due to its large size. We also disinfect the toilets.
Considering the safety of spraying solution, we must choose a suitable disinfection solution. The disinfectant spray (chlorine dioxide) used by the robot has also been tested for many years, after a tremendous of research and laboratory test, and has been certified by SGS, WHO (World Health Organization), FDA (US Food and Drug Administration), EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency). Approved Odorless A1 Food Grade Disinfectant is completely harmless to the human body even in contact with customers and employees. The staff who controls the robots can also be controlled remotely from more than 100 meters with a camera, which greatly reduces the risk of infection of the cleaning staff and saves our manpower. It can also carry up to 30 liters of solution for hotel area, lift lobby, corridors, fitness room and other facilities are thoroughly disinfected.
As for the stairs concern, we equipped the THUNDER with two aluminum ladders, which can facilitate the loading and unloading of the truck. The THUNDER has an anti-falling mechanism. Even if you let go on an uphill halfway, the mechanical vehicle will stay in position. It cannot move back and forth to avoid accidents.
We also tried to put the Thunder disinfection robot in a medium-sized indoor office for disinfection work. From this, we found that some areas need to be improved, as well as the places to pay attention to when disinfecting the indoor environment.
In co-working space office in Kwun Tong, we perform a quick space disinfection before the meeting to provide disinfection and safety protection for the visitors. At present, we use a 50-micron spray head, which is smaller than the previous 100-micron spray head and can perform disinfection work in large spaces.
Thunder disinfection epidemic prevention robot also perform well outdoors. Some streets and alleys in Hong Kong are relatively unclean and smelly. The use of disinfection epidemic prevention robot can used for disinfection of the back alleys and can also deodorize and reduce the work of cleaning workers. Quantities, make nasty work easier.
Thunder disinfection epidemic prevention robot has been visited many places in Hong Kong. Although the Thunder is large in size, it is very quiet when it travel to different area. It is equipped with an aluminum ladder to facilitate trucks and can be reached in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and New Territories. Nowadays, society’s awareness of robots continues to increase. As the 5G technology era is coming, we believe that robot applications will bring many good application cases. At present, the public still needs to know more about these new technologies and take a new step towards the advent of smart cities in Hong Kong.