Update: What an Asian country is doing to fight coronavirus will interest you

Singapore researchers have created a disinfecting robot with an arm that imitates human movement, to help take the load off overworked cleaners during the coronavirus pandemic.

The robot is called “XDBOT”, it is box-shaped, created on wheels mounted with a skillful robotic limb, which can reach some difficult locations including under tables and beds.

According to reports from AFP, the robot, built by researchers at the city-state’s ‘Nanyang Technological University‘, has a high-powered nozzle for spraying disinfectant and can speedily fight large surfaces.

It can be controlled with remotes with a laptop or tablet, reducing the risk to cleaners of becoming infected with the viral coronavirus, which has killed more than 100,000 people globally.

Explaining how to use the robot, the Technology University Scientist who led the invent, Chen I-Ming, said; “Using our new robot from a distance, a human operator can precisely control the disinfection process… with zero contact with surfaces,”

The cleaning robot varies from others on the market, which is basically intended to clean floor surfaces and cannot disinfect odd-shaped objects.

The robot could help meet development in Singapore for more deep-cleaning and disinfection services, with reports suggesting cleaners are having to work long hours as the demands booms during the coronavirus outbreak.

The XDBOT has been tested on the NTU campus, and its inventors hope to test it in more public areas and hospitals.

Singapore is tackling a fast-moving second wave of infections, with case numbers rising to 728 as at Thursday to bring the total to 4,427, including 10 deaths. The outbreak’s epicentre is crowded foreign worker dormitories.

From Thailand to Israel, robots are increasingly being used in the fight against the coronavirus, as they are seen as fast, efficient, and contagion-proof.