Development of a Random Walk Algorithm-based Glass Façade Cleaning Robot and its Performance Analysis

Glass cleaning is one of the major cleaning tasks in malls, offices, and modern households where the human workforce is still used for cleaning. Manual cleaning on façade glasses is less safe, tedious, ineffective, and complex. With the advancement of robot technology, it is possible to use robots for glass curtain cleaning to facilitate humankind and improve cleaning efficiency. This work presents the development of a vacuum-type glass cleaning robot for façade cleaning using a random walk algorithm and its performance analysis. The developed square-shaped robot is controlled by an Arduino Mega microcontroller equipped with vacuuming and cleaning technology. An adhesion mechanism on the wheels makes the robot move forward and backwards on the glass. The robot runs on a 24-volt DC with a power rating of 75 watts. There are ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles and help the robot navigate. The robot uses a simple, cost-effective random-walk mechanism that works effectively for 90 minutes. The robot’s coverage area, repeatability, and dust collection efficiency performance have been analyzed. The result shows that the distance of 130 cm is covered in 12 sec on the vertical surface, whereas the 145 cm is covered in 12 sec on the horizontal surface. The collection efficiency was achieved at 94.06% on the horizontal surfaces and 89.134% on the vertical surfaces, showing remarkable achievement on the glass curtain cleaning.