Unmanned High-Rise Façade Cleaning Robot Implemented on a Gondola: Field Test on 000-Building in Korea

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.

Performance Comparison of Adaptive Mechanisms of Cleaning Module to Overcome Step-Shaped Obstacles on Façades

“…A cleaning module was developed, as shown in Fig. 1 [6]. This cleaning module was optimized using Taguchi's optimization method [14].…”

“…In [6], during the field test on 63 Building in South Korea, an uncleaned area remained on the façade (Fig. 2).…”

“…2). Yoo et al [6] explained that this occurred because the FCR-M1 descends with the gondola at a constant speed. During the descent, the frame of façade is detected by the toggle switches under the cleaning module.…”

“…It has nozzles, squeegees, and suction parts to clean the façade. Unmanned high-rise façade cleaning robot (FCR-M1) has been developed and implemented on a gondola to be used in BMUs [6]. FCR-M1 is mounted on a bracket in a gondola, and cleans the façade using the cleaning device equipped with squeegees, nozzles, brush, and suction parts.…”

“…FCR-M1 has a 2-DOF manipulator that can avoid a frame vertically and rotate in the yaw direction. In the field test on a building [6], there are uncleaned areas around frame.…”