Targeted Approach for Ultraviolet Disinfection of Surfaces

An article of manufacture including a non-transitory computer-readable medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:

• obtaining a three-dimensional image map of m surfaces within an environment, wherein the surfaces are respectively associated with importance weights, and wherein the importance weights represent how frequently the surfaces are expected to be touched;
• determining a set of n vantage points for a light source within the environment;
• calculating an m×n irradiance matrix representing irradiance presented to each of the surfaces when the light source is in each of the vantage points, wherein each entry in the m×n irradiance matrix is determined by:
• (i) rasterizing the three-dimensional image map for a given candidate vantage point, (ii) identifying a set of visible surfaces from the three-dimensional image map as rasterized, and (iii) calculating an amount of light-based power that would reach each of the visible surfaces;
• determining a set of n dwell times, one associated with each of the vantage points, using linear programming over the m×n irradiance matrix, the importance weights, and an overall time constraint;
• and
• providing instructions, to a disinfecting agent, to traverse at least a subset of the vantage points, pausing at each in accordance with the associated dwell times and illuminating at least some of the surfaces while paused.