Integrating Intelligent Control into Far UVC Wearable Garments for On-Demand Airborne Viral and Bacterial Protection

Abstract: Far Ultraviolet C-range (Far UVC) emissions of sufficient intensity have been proven to successfully immobilize a vast family of airborne viruses and bacteria, while being harmless to humans. Recently, an innovative application of portable Far UVC light devices has been suggested in the form of wearable self-disinfecting garments for personal protection. While embedding a miniature Far UVC light fixture (e.g. Ushio's Care222®, Tokyo, Japan) into wearable garments such as vests and helmets can be a relatively straightforward engineering task, the very fact that the devices are battery-supplied implies that particular care and attention must be devoted to the design of an intelligent system for minimizing electrical power consumption based on direct need of use. The aim of this paper is to propose a design utilizing a contemporary microcontroller-based transmitter-receiver system to accomplish this task, and to test the resulting intelligent personal protection garments in real-life conditions. Two wearable garments embedding Ushio’s Care222® units were designed. In each garment, an Arduino-based microcontroller system was embedded along with infrared (IR) transmitter and receiver (Gikfun Infrared Diode LED IR Emission and Receiver for Arduino) to activate the Far UVC lamp when approached by another user wearing also such Far UVC garment if pre-programmed social distancing was violated. Both helmet- and vest-based disinfecting garments were prototyped and subsequently tested on three healthy volunteers working in routine laboratory conditions. The volunteers were encouraged to go about their regular daily work in the lab while wearing the intelligent Far UVC garments. Each volunteer signed consent forms required by the Research Ethics Committee of Howard Payne University. The intelligent Far UVC garment prototypes continuously performed reliably and safely. All three volunteers reported that the implements were minimally obstructive, and that they were able to perform routine multi-hour work in the lab continuously and without any impediment. The Far UVC light on each garment turned itself on only when a pre-programed social distancing (2 meters) was infringed, and turned themselves off when such distancing was exceeded. Due to the embedded intelligent control, power consumption was reduced allowing the garments to maintain operation for a full standard work day. An innovative intelligent control was designed, implemented, embedded and tested on Far UVC wearable garments for the purpose of continuous minimally-obstructive disinfection against airborne viruses and bacteria. The intelligent implements were found to be minimally obstructive by volunteers who wore them during their routine daily lab work.

Keywords: Far UVC, Intelligent Control, Electronic Wearable Personal Protective Equipment, COVID-19, Interconnectivity, Internet-of-Things

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1004843

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