DRDO develops devices to sanitize phone, currency notes

Sanitize Phone: The current COVID-19 pandemic, we have been suggest to properly sanitize our hand.

But what about our precious smartphones and currency notes? What if they get infected?

According to the World Health Organisation ( WHO) study, the current novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 can live for about 72hours (3 days) on surfaces like hard plastic and steel.

Luckily, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a solution for this.

DRDO's premier lab, Research Centre Imarat (RCI) has developed a contactless UVC sanitization cabinet named DRUVS (Defence Research Ultraviolet Sanitiser). It has been develop for sanitizing cell phones, tablets, iPads, currency notes, cheques, challans, passbooks, paper, envelopes, etc.

Senior scientist at RCI, Gopinath said that the device was developed in just 15 days by him and his colleague, Sourav Kumar.

Two DRUVS units have been given to Virology Lab in Hyderabad for further testing. Recently, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Lab over a video conferencing.

On Sunday, DRDO said that Sanitizes Phone the DRUVS cabinet has a contactless operation which is very important to contain the spread of the coronavirus. DRDO attached proximity sensor switches with the drawer opening and closing mechanism to make the operation automatic and contactless.

The device provides a 360-degree exposure of UVC to the objects placed inside the cabinet. The device also has an automated mode due to which the system goes in sleep mode as soon as the sanitize process is complete. Hence, the operator does not need to wait or stand near the device.

The Hyderabad-based lab also developed an automated UVC currency sanitizing device named NOTESCLEAN. Though the sanitize of notes can also be done through DRUVS, but disinfection of each currency note of a bundle will be a time-consuming process.

For solving this problem, RCI developed a unique sanitizing technique in NOTESCLEAN. In this device, one has to just place the loose currency notes at the input slot of the device. The device will pick each of the notes one by one and make them pass through a series to UVC lamps to remove any contamination.

Currently, the manufacturing of this machine has started in Shantinagar, Hyderabad by Vijay Machine Tools. The machine's top-end variant will cost around Rs 55,000. Gopinath said that they are working to reduce the cost of this machine so it will be available at an affordable price.

"Coronavirus can be easily terminate in this machine as it just has one protein layer," Narayana Murthy, RCI Director confirmed.