The four-legged robot moves semi-autonomously and is designed to sanitize surfaces and help fight the coronavirus. (Photo Courtesy of Quan Nguyen) A research team from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering has created a four-legged, semi-autonomous robot to help fight the spread of coronavirus. The robot has been named Legged Agile Smart Efficient Robot for Disinfection (LASER-D) and is able to move on a variety of terrain to sanitize surfaces with a chemical spray-based disinfectant. The machine was created as a research opportunity for master’s students, combining two previous systems: a disinfection robot and a quadruped robot. LASER-D can currently be controlled from a short distance away, with its vision system being overseen by an operator. The vision system serves as a way for operators to control movement while the robot is in development. The team is currently using a machine learning system to help the robot identify disinfected surfaces and said the robot’s visual perception is better than that of a human. LASER-D moves with “waypoints,” which are areas and points that are mapped and designated by the operators to guide the robot through an area.