UV floor scrubbing robots coming to Pittsburgh International Airport

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — You’ll soon see some new tech at Pittsburgh International Airport: floor scrubbing robots that also use ultraviolet light to disinfect high traffic areas.

Airport officials said PIT will be the first U.S. airport to use these new robots after teaming up with Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Robotics. The idea is that UV-C rays, which hospitals have been using for decades to sanitize rooms, can be used against the coronavirus at the airport.

The self-driving, floor-scrubbing robots use AI that can map an area and then clean it without human help. Eighty-eight pounds per square inch of water pressure is used to scrub the floor. Chemical disinfectant is added and the UV light then passes over the area, creating a three phase cleaning process. The batteries last about six hours and the water needs to be changed about every two and a half hours. Cameras mounted on the machine let it know if objects or people are in its path and will stop it immediately if its path gets blocked.

PIT is also looking at how UV technology can be used to clean escalators, handrails, moving walkways, elevator buttons and other areas often touched, airport officials said.

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It’s not clear yet when the new machines will start being used at the airport.

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PIT floor scrubbing robots Pittsburgh International Airport is the first in the country to employ robotic floor scrubbers that also use UV-C light to disinfect areas from COVID-19. (Blue Sky News/Pittsburgh International Airport)

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