COVID-19 Decontamination of Delivery Drone Aircraft Used in Remote and Rural Locations

在这个拟议的项目中，我们将与两家正在开发大容量无人机的加拿大中小企业- Romaeris Corporation和Sky Canoe合作，制定策略，快速净化已暴露于SARS-CoV-2冠状病毒和其他病原体的大型无人机。 虽然这两家公司是潜在的竞争对手，但他们已经同意卡尔顿提出的这种独特的竞争前伙伴关系，以更好地解决这一对公共卫生的威胁。 这两家公司的遥控飞机系统（即“无人机”）都具有较大的货运能力（>250公斤），计划用于向偏远和农村地区运送货物，包括与世隔绝的土著社区和非洲地区。 这些社区可能最容易受到新型冠状病毒和其他病原体的传播。 与此同时，这些社区需要一个不间断的供应链，以维持药品和易腐食品等所需货物的流动。 鉴于计划中的供应飞行行动克里思快，地面周转时间快，飞机上的许多表面都将由出发和到达地点的人员在短短几个小时内接触。 人们还知道，SARS-CoV-2冠状病毒可以在金属和塑料等表面上存活数天-尽管这种残留病毒颗粒的感染性仍然未知。 在该项目中，我们将研究传统载人航空业中使用的行业认可的去污策略，并评估其适用性，运营影响和降低两家公司无人机适航性的潜力。 短期目标是为这些飞机制定一个可接受的去污过程，以便立即部署，同时确定长期的设计修改和改进，以简化未来所有类型无人机的去污。

In this proposed project, we will work with two Canadian SMEs who are developing large capacity delivery drones - Romaeris Corporation and Sky Canoe - to develop strategies to rapidly decontaminate large delivery drone aircraft that have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and other pathogens. Although these two companies are potential competitors, they have agreed to this unique pre-competitive partnership proposed by Carleton for the greater good of addressing this threat to public health. The remotely piloted aircraft systems (i.e. "drone") from these two companies both have large (>250 kg) cargo capacity and are planned to be used for delivery to remote and rural locations including isolated Indigenous communities and locations in Africa. These communities may be most vulnerable to the spread of the novel coronavirus and other pathogens. At the same time, these communities require an unbroken supply chain to maintain the flow of required goods such as medicines and perishable food. Given the planned high operational tempo of supply flights and the rapid turn-around time on the ground, there are many surfaces on the aircraft that will be touched by personnel at the departure and arrival locations within short intervals of only a few hours. It is also known that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus may survive on surfaces such as metal and plastic for several days - although the infectivity of such residual viral particles remains unknown. In this project, we will examine industry-accepted decontamination strategies used in the traditional manned aviation industry and assess their applicability, operational impact and potential to degrade the airworthiness of the two companies' drones. The short term goal is to develop an acceptable decontamination process for these aircraft for immediate deployment while identifying long term design modifications and improvements to simplify decontamination of future delivery drone aircraft of all types.