Just wanted to share.
I have been through the trianing with IPC using there system. Itâs a 2 man job one on the ground and one on the roof. For some buildings it is super efficient and very safe.
The big question: Can it clean windows well?
Follow up question: Is it more efficient than traditional?
Seems like a ridiculous concept, with very limited usefulness, difficult to use, and with potentially âspotty resultsâ.
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The results I saw on 2 jobs were yes it can. Itâs not going to work on every building. But it does on most and there are many companies using it all around the world.
I was at IPC yesterday, they were building one currently for a customer. These are ideally used on all glass buildings without inside corners or bumpouts.
Working near an entryway Are tough with the water coming down.
Another company sells one competitively priced with IPCâs, again in the 30 to $40000 range.
Tools have a place for some people more than others.
A 3 million dollar robotic window cleaner as stated in the article is ridiculous.
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This technology is advancing so fast. Thereâs no reason to believe a solution to automate the cleaning of complex architecture isnât feasible in the near future.
And just a slight correction, sorry. The robot they are making is not $3M, thatâs how much money they raised. Their idea is to do a profit share with cleaning companies using the robot with no up front cost according to the article. I donât know how feasible that is.
I understand the cost and the method they are planning for leasing.
It still has not even completed a full cleaning on any one building.
They are talking of this unit in one week with one man replacing 480 hours traditional methods. This is dishonest
This is not really leasing/transportable. It would require different equipment to operate it for each building. Imagine hauling cables to suspend unit, power cord, water hoses to feed the distilled water up to a rooftop that are capable of reaching 30-40 stories tall.
These building would need this equipment o be permanent to each location. This makes leasing impossible.
It mentions use of distilled water but makes no reference to how it is supplied to unit, distilled or even purified onsite?
Reason they have yet to complete a full cleaning is they dont have the water source figured out for the volume needed for such large scale task.
Sounds great I get it but to understand the real task and how far they currently have come they have a long road ahead and more money to raise to get there.
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Resurrecting this because someone sent me an email with an article. Skyscraper window washing ripe for automation
The article highlights 2 companies that are innovating these machines further. One is Serbot with their Gekko machine which is cleaning most sky scrapers in Dubai because of itâs suction cup technology that can cling to any surface/ledge/etc. Then there is another company Skyline Robotics that is building a machine on swing stage that emulates human arms and movements. It appears from the video that the idea is for these arms to telescope to reach difficult windows and get in corners better, i have inserted a link to the video as well.
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The article states how dangerous this work is and automation is replacing tasks that are too dangerous for humans.
Facts are the companies who have these accidents commonly dont have the proper procedures or training for rescue/self rescue techniques in place.
The situations also could have been prevented either by shutting down due to high winds or companies not using the proper methods that are present to secure the platforms to building side.
In the US the percentage of buildings that can be equipped with automatic systems is a extremely low percentage.
Of all accidents/fatalities are commonly from working on buildings that cant be fitted with automatic systems and willful neglect from building owners and cleaners who work them.
We could avoid most vehicle accidents if the driving laws werenât violated. Follow the rules and amazingly all things become safer.
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A few tough areas to access above and below balvonies, overhangs, inside and outside corners, variable sized windows.
Automation costs too much to adapt to building styles in an industry where budgets just dont allow it.
Will this robot clean the buildings below?
Everybody always talks about safety but thatâs not the reason companies want to automate. Thatâs a front. This is all about cutting out labor. Plain and simple.
As for the pictures. I think the robot with the telescoping arms could do it? Even if they are 10ft or so away from the facade, if the arms telescope I donât see why not.
The arms would need to be designed and programmed to accomadate each different accessible architectural per building, $$.
Which would be basically designing a new robot for each specific building and its obstructions,$$$.
Yes, a robot can clean any square, all glass building with no frames. How many match that criteria?
In 25 years I rarely use the same method building to building. They each have their own little details.
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Soa CNN news article popped up in my news feed today. This is about skyline robotics from the cgi vid above. They now have a working robot cleaning buildings in tel aviv. They address the unique challenges if each building, ledges, over hangs, someone opening a window and so on. They actually load full architecture schematics of the building on the robots on board computer. Using that information the robot knows where itâs at all the time and adjusts for those challenges. It doesnât say how long the arms are but they look pretty large from the video. The robot, according to the CEO, can clean a building that normally takes 2 months to clean in one week.
His answer in regards to job displacement probably doesnât make people feel particularly good about it.
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just read that as well. Some folks will get pâd off but if they provide a good product at a good price it is hard to beat. If I had the high rise know how and the capital Iâd invest in one myself. Tech improves almost every area it enters or at the minimum creates new ways to view the existing work and data in a given field and eventually leads to advancements.
