Introducing Ray

INTRODUCING A CREW AND CABIN FRIENDLY DISINFECTING ROBOT

A new agreement between MHIRJ and Canadian technology company Aero HygenX means that quicker, chemical-free cabin disinfection is now available to all CRJ Series operators.

Since the onset of COVID-19, airlines and aircraft operators around the world have rushed to implement more frequent cleaning procedures for a deeper disinfection of the cabin.

Up until now, the bulk of these new cleaning measures required crews to manually apply strong chemical disinfectants, leading to prolonged turnaround times for aircraft. Unfortunately, recent reports show negative side-effects of such cleaning regimes, such as excess hazardous waste and health risks to crew exposed to corrosive and toxic formulas.

Further to environmental and health concerns posed by the frequent use of chemical disinfectants onboard, the compounds commonly found in them carry the added risk of interior corrosion, embrittlement, increased flammability, and even electrical short circuit.

“Depending on the system or part affected, any of these conditions could create either an immediate or latent airworthiness issue,” warns a Special Airworthiness Bulletin published by the FAA in November 2022.

The RAY line of UV-C disinfecting solutions provides aircraft operators with an alternative to manual chemical disinfection, and it is now available directly through MHIRJ’s maintenance teams.

Designed for the transportation industry, RAY is a compact and light-weight autonomous robot which uses motion sensing technology to autonomously navigate interior spaces, disinfecting air and surfaces safely and without the use of harmful chemicals, thanks to UV-C light. RAY’s ‘little brother’ SparX is a smaller, stationary unit that uses the same germkilling UV-C light to safely disinfect smaller spaces, such as tight cockpits and lavatories.

RAY has the ability to fully disinfect a CRJ aircraft in as little as seven minutes and prevents crew from exposure to chemical disinfectants. RAY uses a proprietary algorithm to self-adjust for various aircraft types and cabin configurations, and comes equipped with HygenX Stream, a customizable software that records and transmits usage data wirelessly to the cloud providing valuable system health monitoring and status updates to the operator.

RAY was designed specifically for the aircraft environment and has been laboratory tested to prove its efficacy against a multitude of illness-causing pathogens (including SARS-COV2). It eliminates any possibility of chemical pooling or ingress when used in sensitive areas such as the cockpit, and is scientifically proven to cause less material degradation to plastics and fabrics over time when compared to chemical cleaners used for the same task.

“Aero HygenX is a dynamic start-up with global vision and advanced technology that’s designed to improve health and safety as our industry gets back on track. At MHIRJ, we applaud solutions that aim at keeping our operators and their passengers safe while offering green cleaning alternatives,” said Robert Duffield, Head of Aftermarket Customer and Product Support at MHIRJ. “We’re very happy that we can offer both RAY and SparX to our customers and anticipate a lot of interest in the products.”

WATCH RAY IN ACT I O N