Disinfection system

1. An apparatus comprising:

a disinfection system to perform a disinfection process inside an area when the area is not in use, wherein the disinfection system is inactive when the area is in use, and wherein the disinfection system comprises a source of far-ultraviolet radiation, the source configured to perform the disinfection process inside the area;

an activation system that controls activation and deactivation of the disinfection system; a door closing mechanism configured to close a door to the area automatically; and

a controller that receives information from a sensor system, determines whether a set of criteria has been met based on the information, and activates the disinfection system to place the disinfection system in an active mode in response to a determination that the set of criteria has been met.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a mechanical system to physically move one or more components to be disinfected inside the area during the disinfection process to expose additional surfaces for disinfection.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a reflective material applied to a plurality of surfaces inside the area to reflect the far-ultraviolet radiation into the area, wherein the reflective material is configured to selectively reflect far-ultraviolet radiation but not electromagnetic radiation of human eye optical wavelengths.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the activation system activates the disinfection system in response to a determination that a set of criteria has been met, wherein the set of criteria includes the area being unoccupied, the area having been occupied a selected number of times since a previous disinfection of the area, or a selected amount of time having passed since the previous disinfection of the area.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises:

a sensor system that detects whether the area is occupied or unoccupied.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a rotating device, wherein the source of far-ultraviolet radiation is mounted to the rotating device.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the disinfection system further comprises:

a number of reflector devices that reflect the far-ultraviolet radiation onto at least one selected object inside the area.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

an indicator device associated with an exterior of the area, wherein the indicator device displays a visual indication of whether the disinfection system is in an active mode or in an inactive mode.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller deactivates the disinfection system to place the disinfection system in an inactive mode when a door to the area is opened prior to completion of the disinfection process.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller deactivates the disinfection system to place the disinfection system in an inactive mode after completion of the disinfection process.

11. A method for disinfecting an area, the method comprising:

determining, by a controller, whether a set of criteria for activation of a disinfection system to perform a disinfection process inside the area has been met, wherein the disinfection system comprises a source of far-ultraviolet radiation; and after this determining step,

activating the disinfection system to perform the disinfection process inside the area in response to a determination that the set of criteria has been met.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining whether the set of criteria has been met comprises:

determining, by the controller using information from a sensor system, whether the area is unoccupied; and

determining whether the area has been occupied a selected number of times since a previous disinfection of the area.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

deactivating the disinfection system to place the disinfection system in an inactive mode after completion of the disinfection process, wherein completion of the disinfection process is after emitting far-ultraviolet radiation for a selected period of time.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

rotating the source of far-ultraviolet radiation continuously or periodically during the selected period of time using a rotating device, wherein the source of far-ultraviolet radiation is mounted to the rotating device.

15. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

reflecting far-ultraviolet radiation onto at least one selected region in the area using at least one of a number of reflector devices located inside the area or a reflective material on a plurality of surfaces inside the area.

16. A method for disinfecting an area, the method comprising:

determining whether a door to an area is closed in response to a determination that the area has been occupied a selected number of times since a previous disinfection of the area;

activating a disinfection system to perform a disinfection process inside the area in response to the determination that the door is closed, wherein the disinfection system comprises a source of far-ultraviolet radiation configured to perform the disinfection process inside the area; and

deactivating the disinfection system after completion of the disinfection process.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

monitoring the area during the disinfection process; and

deactivating the disinfection system in response to a detection of door to the area being opened during the disinfection process.

18. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

engaging a door closing mechanism to close the door to the area in response to a determination that the door to the area is not closed.