Freshbox - Covid-19 Disinfection Smart Box

By using some scraps like a carton box, aluminium foil and few cheapest electronics, we will tell you a secret of building a fully automated IoT based virus disinfection box - we call it a FreshBox.

Investigators from the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) believe they may have found a new, low-cost solution to eradicating airborne viruses in indoor public spaces. The research team found that continuous low doses of far ultraviolet C (far-UVC) light can kill airborne flu viruses without harming human tissues.

Scientists have known for decades that broad-spectrum UVC light, which has a wavelength of between 200 to 400 nanometers (nm), is highly effective at killing bacteria and viruses by destroying the molecular bonds that hold their DNA together. This conventional UV light is routinely used to decontaminate surgical equipment.

By using the benign LED UV light strip which is usually used in Water Purifiers you can build a simple and effective Disinfection Smart Box using Internet Of Things! We have been able to make a simple video of how to build one such DIY box that we call it as "FreshBox" using some household materials such as a carton box, aluminium foil and using some cheapest electronics just under the price range of Rs. 1000 (i.e. US $13).

This is world cheapest and safe UV and IoT based magic disinfection box to clean any kind of item from fruits to vegetable and from food packets to shopping packages!

So how do we know it's $13 or Rs. 1000!

Well here's the calculation!

Node MCU Rs.300

UV light Rs.200

24V Adapter Rs.300

Relay Rs. 100

Other Rs. 100

Total Rs. 1000 (US$13)

You can find the detail instructions on how it works, how to build it and a simple code walkthrough all in this short Youtube video.

The FreshBox has NodeMCU as it's Microcontroller which can be remotely operated by an Android App from Playstore (Pending publication) Using MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport). The MQTT is a light weight IOT protocol for small data transfer between client and server and uses a publish and subscribe mechanism which makes it useful for event based IOT projects.

We are sharing the full code of Microcontroller which you can modify by yourself using Arduino IDE (No coding skills required, believe me!). The Android App source code however can not be shared so we will be publishing the FreshBox 1.0 app on Android app which can be later downloaded to your Android phone.

The FreshBox can be turned on and off using an Android app. Also when the FreshBox finished the disinfection it sends the notification and the alert ringtone starts playing on the app! So you need not continuously monitor the box all the times!

Explore many benefits of IOT and UV for fighting with deadly diseases around us!