Violet is a robot who kills Covid-19. It was based off of Stevie, a robot who helped take care of old people. Violet is equipped with an Ultraviolet light, which “causes DNA either to change shape, or acts like molecular scissors,” (says Beckett, a postdoctoral research fellow in Trinity’s microbiology department). So basically, it kills viruses. It makes little nicks and dents on cells, and while complex organisms and bacteria can repair the nicks and dents, viruses can’t. So why isn’t Ultraviolet light everywhere? Well, it “can also cause sunburn and the cell mutations that lead to skin cancer,” (Meet Violet, the Robot That Can Kill the COVID-19 Virus) so it is used in rooms that don’t have people, so it can’t be used in places like waiting rooms, where there are people. But is violet good, or bad?
Violet can disinfect things very quickly, up to 4 times faster than a person, which takes around an hour to disinfect a room with Covid-19, but it only takes violet around 15 minutes. Violet is useful for working and disinfecting on the front lines, but there is still the risk that it can damage a human. So, the builders of Violet installed motion sensors that would stop Violet if they sense motion, and a protective shield on the back of the light. Violet is currently working very well, disinfecting the rooms in 15 minutes, instead of the old method that takes 1 hour, but are it’s motion sensors and shields enough?
Even though complex organisms like humans can repair their cells if they are damaged by Ultraviolet light, if they are frequently exposed to it, Ultraviolet light could the cell mutations that lead to cause skin cancer. So even though Violet has motion sensors, and a protective shield, it takes a moment for the motion sensor to sense motion, and turn off the light, so what if a doctor is frequently exposed to bursts of the light? Well, then it might cause skin cancer. So while Violet has precautions that try to protect people from the UV light, scientists and researchers are still trying to think of ways to further protect people from Violet’s UV light, and when they are done, then Violet may become a well-used robot that everybody uses, and it will be disinfecting everywhere, from grocery stores to hospitals.