No abstract

Façade cleaning is very difficult and dangerous work for human workers. The automation of façade cleaning is considered a large market with significant potential, and it is also considered a market that needs to be replaced by a robotic solution. Several researchers have previously attempted to replace the façade cleaning task by a semi-automated device; however, there is no effective solution yet on the market. In this paper, we share our experiences involving the unmanned façade cleaning robot equipped on a gondola. The robot is composed of a two-degree of freedom robotic manipulator and a cleaning device. The cleaning device sprays a cleaning solution, brushes the solution, and retrieves the solution by suction with a squeegee. A robust controller is used to operate the robot manipulator in order to control the force and position of the cleaning device to the wall. The robot is tested on the 63-building, which is the most popular high-rise building in Korea, and the successful results are obtained with respect to the cleaning performance, with some problems requiring further improvements. From the field test, we find the potential to commercialize the robotic platform, as well as some information to improve the robot's performance. We believe that the information on the cleaning experiment may be helpful for field robot researchers. INDEX TERMS Façade cleaning, 2-DOF manipulator, cleaning device, robust control, high-rise building.

No abstract

The maintenance of buildings has become an important issue with the construction of many high-rise buildings in recent years. However, the cleaning of the outer walls of buildings is performed in highly hazardous environments over long periods, and many accidents occur each year. Various robots are being studied and developed to reduce these incidents and to relieve workers from hazardous tasks. Herein, we propose a method of spraying high-pressure water using a pump and nozzle, which differs from conventional methods. The cleaning performance parameters, such as water pressure, spray angle, and spray distance, were optimized using the Taguchi method. Cleaning experiments were performed on window specimens that were contaminated artificially. The cleaning performance of the proposed method was evaluated using the image-evaluation method. The optimum condition was determined based on the results of a sensitive analysis performed on the image data. In addition, the reaction force due to high pressure and impact force on the specimens were investigated. These forces were not sufficient to affect the propeller thrust or cause damage to the building’s surface. We expect to perform field tests in the near future based on the output of this research.