Houston Airports is committed to keeping its passengers safe and takes the utmost care with ensuring the cleanliness of its facilities. As part of the FlySafe Houston initiative, Houston Airports is using autonomous robots to provide a clean airport environment.  

The robots autonomously scrub and sanitize the terminal floors. The new SC50 Autonomous Scrubber comes with UV technology that targets viruses and pathogens. It uses the latest LIDAR—remote sensing technology. LIDAR measures the distance to objects and targets using a combination of laser lights and cameras to traverse the airport independently while scrubbing the floors and sanitizing them with UV technology. The equipment has many safety features to ensure proper operation without interfering with the traveling public. 

The airports are also using robot foggers which also use the latest in radar and LIDAR technology in combination with cameras to roam pre-determined paths. The “fogging” occurs during low passenger traffic times. It has been proven to eliminate 99.9% of pathogens without exposing the public or employees to irritating fog or contaminated surfaces. 

“Before acquiring the robot fogger, cleaning staff would have to spray manually, which takes time and pulls the employee away from other duties,” Houston Airports Landside Operations Manager Mark Stagg said. “These new robots are great tools to help ensure our customers both internally and externally have the safest traveling experience possible.” 

FlySafe Houston is an internationally accredited passenger and employee-focused safety and health initiative that aims to reduce the spread of COVID-19 at every corner of Houston’s airports.