NGen investing $5M in five disinfection robot projects

Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster organization, Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), announced it’s co-investing $5 million in five Canadian projects currently developing automated hands-free disinfection technologies via its Disinfection Robot Challenge.

Launched in April, the challenge garnered 19 proposals from innovative companies across Canada. To qualify, projects were expected to have a fast turnaround and demonstrate an impact on COVID-19 within six months.

“Canada has an opportunity to be a world leader in developing and producing large scale disinfecting solutions based on our outstanding advanced manufacturing capabilities,” said Jayson Myers, CEO, NGen. “Disinfection robots have been deployed successfully in other countries and are showing promising results in terms of reducing the spread of COVID-19 as well as other infectious diseases. Scaling up these capabilities in Canada will spark an entirely new ecosystem around advanced robotic disinfection, creating new business opportunities, jobs and knowledge, and above all anchoring more manufacturing here at home.”

The five projects selected include:
With partner its Sanctuary AI, Vancouver, BC-based A&K Robotics is developing Amrud, a self-driving robot capable of autonomously disinfecting large areas of floor spaces and high-touch surfaces.

AIS, Advanced Intelligence Systems, based in Burnaby, BC., will produce a robot that will map large-scale environments such as hospitals, navigate to interest points, and perform hands-free UV disinfection without requiring human intervention.

CrossWing, based in Aurora, ON will manufacture two robots: Cleanbot UV that uses UV light and Cleanbot MIST, that can deliver a precisely measured spray of disinfectant to pathogen hotspots.

Toronto’s GlobalDWS is developing the GlobalDWS’ Disinfection Service Robot (DSR), a fully autonomous, voice-enabled service robotic platform equipped with a COVID-19 assistant, disinfectant sprayer and UV-C light functionality

Prescientx, based in Cambridge, ON, will develop and deploy a fleet of self-driving mobile robotic vehicles integrated with an UV disinfection system. The solution will combine Prescientx’s CoolDose UVC technology with Clearpath Robotics’s OTTO autonomous mobile robot platform.

The Disinfection Robot Challenge is one of multiple NGen’s challenges. On June 25, the organization launched its Made Smarter Strategic Supply Challenge, which challenges manufacturers to build sustainable, cost competitive supply capabilities in Canada of products that are essential in the fight against COVID-19. NGen says it will invest over $15 million in these projects.
www.ngen.ca