UAE | General
Robots to replace window cleaners on skyscrapers
Swiss-made machines to work faster and on all kinds of surfaces
- By Dina Aboul Hosn, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 January 29, 2010
- Image Credit: Supplied
- The robot is able to clean windows and building facades using the latest technologies developed in Switzerland by Serbot AG.
Dubai: Dubai's skyline will see significant changes when Gekko III and CleanAnt get to work on the city's high-rise buildings.
The two are cleaning robots, specialised in cleaning windows and building facades using the latest technologies developed in Switzerland by Serbot AG.
"We are bringing this new technology to the UAE where we've seen a lot of potential, especially with the skyscrapers and various architectural designs which are very hard to clean using conventional methods," Bas Schmit Phiferons, Serbot's Business Development Manager, said.
Gekko, a disk-shaped robot, has a cleaning capacity of up to 400 square metres/hour, which is fifteen times faster than manual cleaning. It uses vacuum power to attach itself to the surface to be cleaned whether vertical, horizontal or slanted.
The robot then uses a windshield-wiper type of brush to blast away any kind of dirt, be it dust, mud or even oils, a residue of fuel burning from cars and jets.
"No detergent is needed for cleaning, which is an added environmental advantage. The robots can use dry ice, demineralised water or water with enzymes to eat away the oils. They also can filter and recycle the used material to minimise waste," Schmit Phiferons said.
However, other building shapes require a different method, and this is where CleanAnt is used. Facade cleaning is difficult, expensive and dangerous. The CleanAnt does this work safe and reliable automatically or radio guided, vertical or overhanging areas are not a problem for both robot systems. CleanAnt also overcomes concave and convex areas and obstacles and can work in heavy traffic areas.
Although cleaning of skyscrapers is the main field of application of CleanAnt, it can be used as inspection or repair tool for dams and bridges as well.
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