The cleaning industry suffers from a permanent shortage of personnel and a high staff turnover. This is where robots can help. Danish manufacturer Nilfisk is bringing out a machine in 2017 that can wet-clean rooms autonomously.
The interest in automated solutions has grown massively in the cleaning industry over the past few years. Cleaning robots can help the industry counter increasing cost pressure, personnel shortages and the customary high turnover of staff more effectively. What’s more, cleaning robots enable practically flawless results and improved productivity in light of the increased demand for results-driven cleaning. In 2017, Nilfisk – one of the leading manufacturers of professional cleaning appliances – will address this demand with the launch of the Advance Liberty A 50: a scrubbing robot which autonomously wet-cleans floors.
New prospects for the cleaning industry
The cleaning robot is the first result yielded by the Horizon programme – a joint venture between Danish firm Nilfisk and Carnegie Robotics, an American manufacturer of modern robotics sensors and software. The aim of the Horizon programme is to launch autonomous cleaning solutions onto the market and allow customers to clean floors precisely and reliably without any kind of human operation. “With this programme, we are paving the way for the long-term, strategic development of autonomous, networked cleaning solutions. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, productivity and overall operating costs need to be viewed from an entirely new perspective,” says Jonas Persson, CEO of Nilfisk.
Military and space-grade technology built in
The cleaning robot incorporates a system comprising sensors, cameras and software, using which it can recognise a room by passing through it just once. Even obstacles the size of a tennis ball can be detected and independently avoided by the robot. This means that it can also be deployed on busy surfaces or during the opening hours of supermarkets, for example. The combination of sensors, cameras and lasers also enables the scrubbing robot to clean close to obstructions and walls. The sensor systems can also operate in low ambient light levels, meaning that the rooms which are to be cleaned don’t even need to be brightly lit. That saves on energy costs. “We’ve adapted military and space-grade technologies to provide the Advance Liberty A 50 scrubber with state-of-the-art perception and intelligent navigation that deliver safe and reliable floor cleaning,” says Steve DiAntonio, CEO of Carnegie Robotics. “At the same time, we’ve engineered a simple-to-use interface that enables flexible and efficient operation.”
Cleaning made simple
In the name of simplicity, the robot features just three buttons for setting the cleaning mode: in a building that’s still unfamiliar, the operator can first switch it to manual mode. While standing on the machine, they can guide the robot once through the entire room. In “Fill-in” mode, it’s enough just to delineate the outline of the surface. The robot subsequently cleans the entire surface and dodges every obstacle; even ones which have appeared in the meantime. Alternatively, the operator can also plot a specific course in “CopyCat” mode to show the robot which route it should follow when cleaning the room. “The Advance Liberty A 50 is our most important product innovation yet,” emphasises Nilfisk CEO Jonas Persson. “It will set the standard and lead the way for intelligent equipment going forward in the commercial cleaning industry.”