  Autonomous systems have played an important role in response to the Covid-19
pandemic. Notably, there have been multiple attempts to leverage Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to disinfect surfaces. Although recent research suggests
that surface transmission is less significant than airborne transmission in the
spread of Covid-19, surfaces and fomites can play, and have played, critical
roles in the transmission of Covid-19 and many other viruses, especially in
settings such as child daycares, schools, offices, and hospitals. Employing
UAVs for mass spray disinfection offers several potential advantages, including
high-throughput application of disinfectant, large scale deployment, and the
minimization of health risks to sanitation workers. Despite these potential
benefits and preliminary usage of UAVs for disinfection, there has been little
research into their design and effectiveness. In this work, we present an
autonomous UAV capable of effectively disinfecting indoor surfaces. We identify
relevant parameters such as disinfectant type and concentration, and
application time and distance required of the UAV to disinfect high-touch
surfaces such as door handles. Finally, we develop a robotic system that
enables the fully autonomous disinfection of door handles in an unstructured
and previously unknown environment. To our knowledge, this is the smallest
untethered UAV ever built with both full autonomy and spraying capabilities,
allowing it to operate in confined indoor settings, and the first autonomous
UAV to specifically target high-touch surfaces on an individual basis with
spray disinfectant, resulting in more efficient use of disinfectant
