New York-based firm EagleHawk has developed a way to sanitize large areas against COVID-19 via disinfectant drones.

Using EPA-approved chemicals, the disinfectant drones can spray over large facilities such as stadiums and ballparks, or indoor buildings such as jails and government offices. Company officials hope customers will see the value in using a single drone flight to disinfect an area rather than having to spend more time and money hiring several human cleaners. As states begin to lift stay-at-home orders and businesses begin to re-open, organizations will be tasked with ensuring workers return to clean buildings.

“Many of our clients are responsible for keeping their facilities safe and clean, especially during these unprecedented times,” said EagleHawk COO Will Schulmeister. “As engineers and innovators, we’re thankful that we’re able to adjust our services and solutions to fight against the coronavirus so our clients – and their clients – can feel safe and stay healthy as we work together to combat this deadly virus.”

“While EagleHawk has engineered an effective drone solution to help disinfect large-scale facilities, we also caution companies to be weary of providers who are offering a service using off-the-shelf spraying drones, which were designed for agricultural use and are not suitable for disinfection purposes,” said EagleHawk CEO Patrick Walsh.

Walsh added:

“Providing these services properly requires a custom-tailored delivery system and expert drone pilots. Unfortunately, we have seen a number of companies recently begin to market such drone-enabled disinfection services using these agriculture drones, promising results that they won’t be able to deliver. EagleHawk has spent months researching, designing, and testing our solutions to ensure we’re offering a safe and effective service for our clients and are working closely with regulatory agencies such as the FAA, EPA and New York DEC to ensure all safety standards and protocols are followed.”

The company recently performed a test run at KeyBank Center, a sports arena in Buffalo.

In addition to offering the new service with disinfectant drones, EagleHawk offers an array of UAV-based inspections to include GIS, thermal imagery and roof inspection.