Keywords: Service Robot | Mobile Robotics | Window Cleaning
The kraken robot was designed to clean windows of skyscrapers and high-rise buildings in order to alleviate risk of human window cleaners and to offer a more professional land consistent window cleaning solution. The Kraken consisted of a main impeller module that would create a suction force to allow the robot to stick to the window surface. The navigation system is comprised of a dual tread system so that the robot could move in the x and y axis freely along the window. The sensor system was a combination of distance sensors for collision, temperature sensors for operation maintenance and water level sensors for tracking the cleaning process. The Kraken begins cleaning windows from top to bottom in a zig-zag like pattern and also scans for defects or weak points in the building’s windows. The idea was to have the robot operate almost fully autonomously while being tethered to the top of the building. This would significantly reduce the costs involved of hiring multiple window cleaning workers and supervisors to cater for one building at a time.
This project was my first invention as a postgraduate researcher and as an entrepreneur. It was easy to see the popularity and need for these kind of robots as they target high-risk field applications. At the time of developing the prototypes we had received significant interest from large corporations to trial the robot on their high-rise buildings. This project was truly in line with my mission of high impact robots for social good and the new models are currently in development.