IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2021 - 61

band, with a 254-nm wavelength peak emission. The highlevel control for a remote and autonomous condition hosts a
Robot Operating System with a version of real-time appearance-based mapping (RTAB-Map) [11] to obtain localization
of the robot in the environment and to eventually perform
simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). SLAM is
used to perform an initial, supervised mapping of the area of
operation, whereas, in the repeated use of the robot as a disinfection system, localization is envisaged to be enabled only to
increase the robustness of the system. The implemented
RTAB-Map parametrization makes use of red, green, blue
depth (RGB-D) data, lidar, and wheel-odometry data, and it
is constrained to planar localization and mapping. A 2D
occupancy grid is generated through the lidar sensor.

fixed-lamp solutions. In our study, we used low-pressure mercury lamps (254 nm). The disinfection efficacy of singlesource UV irradiation has been widely studied in scientific
literature, especially against Clostridium difficile bacterium [12]. Moreover, the dependency of the disinfection performance on the radiation dose has been studied in [13],
including the strong influence of both irradiation time and
irradiated energy on the reduction of bacteria concentration.
The aim of the experiment was to assess whether, during a
room-disinfection task, a robotic solution can perform better
than a fixed-lamp solution in terms of irradiation time and
irradiated energy distribution.
Methods
To experimentally measure the differences between a fixed
UV-C-emitting device and a mobile one, a disinfection task
was performed in a conference room at the Scuola Superiore
Sant'Anna of Pisa, measuring about 60 m2. Twenty-one colorimetric UV-sensitive markers (Intellego) were placed at

Experimental Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Static
Versus Mobile Source of UV-C Radiation
The first objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy
of robot-carried sources of UV-C radiation compared to

300-W UV-C
Lamp System

3D Depth
Camera
and IMU
Driving
Wheels

Caster
Wheels

Lidar
(a)

Remote Supervision
Offline Optimization

High-Level Controller
Robot Odometry

Static Map

Cartesian
Position/Orientation
Control

SLAM

Low-Level Controller
WheelUV-C Lamp
Speed
Controller
Controller

Time-Varying APF
Irradiation and Motion
Simulation
GA Optimization
Hardware Layer
Optimized
Reference Path

IMU
(Gyroscope)

Driving Wheels
and Encoders

UV-C
Lamp
System

RGB-D
Depth
Camera

Lidar

(b)
Figure 2. A schematic view of (a) the robotic mobile platform and (b) the control architecture. The arrows indicate the data/command
stream direction and the relation among hardware/software components. IMU: inertial measurement unit.

MARCH 2021

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IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

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IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2021

Contents
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2021 - Cover1
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