Smart Spider, a robotic facade-cleaning machine
Do you love to take a break at work and look out the glass facade of your office building? To enable you to enjoy the views, Candor’s Facility Management team oversees the tedious task of cleaning the facades of the buildings in our campuses. Fortunately, this work has now been made easy thanks to a robotic facade-cleaning machine designed and developed by Baljit Singh, VP – Operations, Candor TechSpace.
Our campuses feature towering, glassfronted buildings that stand proud against the skyline. And it is our Facility Management team with their efficient building management system that ensures that the facades of these buildings shine brightly in the day and illuminate at night. But this work can present very real dangers.
Facade cleaners, who work at a great height while remaining suspended from a building, are at risk of falling off and injuring themselves fatally due to failed safety equipment or the strong winds. Take for instance the two workers who fell to their death while cleaning the glass facades of the high-rise Videocon Tower in New Delhi in June 2019. No wonder facade cleaning is considered as one of the world’s top most dangerous jobs! Even others such as the pedestrians below are at risk, as they may be struck by equipment or tools accidentally dropped or knocked off cradle platforms by facade cleaners.
ELIMINATING THE RISK
There is no doubt that facade cleaning risks many a life. To counter this danger once and for all, Baljit Singh, Vice President – Operations, Candor TechSpace, has relied on his years of research in the facility management space to design and build Smart Spider. This is a one-of-a-kind, compact, lightweight and remote-controlled robotic facade-cleaning machine.
Manufactured in India and aligned to the Government of India’s Make in India mission, Smart Spider is an extension of Candor’s ‘Innovation.YOU’ campaign that reflects continued and newer innovation in technology. This smart machine comes equipped with advanced, technology-driven features and relevant cleaning gear (which includes sprayer nozzle, bristle roller, forward and reverse mechanism and water pumps) to make the task of cleaning the facades of buildings in the campuses smooth, quick and hassle-free.
HOW IT WORKS
The automated cleaning machine uses a simple glass-cleaning roller brush mechanism with up and down and forward and backward motion. It relies on electricity for motion, thereby bringing efficiency and quality to the cleaning process. It also uses a brush in-line with water pumps to deliver soap and water for removing stains from the glass and eventually achieving uniformity in the cleaning.
A bristle roller gently scrubs the glass surface of the building to remove the dust without causing damage. The roller also carries droplets of the cleaning solution for effective glass cleaning. There is another micro fabric roller—a soft roller designed to wipe out the cleaning liquid and any remaining dirt on the surface of the glass. A small nozzle sprayer is also used to spray a cleaning solution on the glass surface, while a wiper wipes off the excess liquid.
The entire cleaning process is controlled and managed by a wireless controlled, radio signal-based remote station that supervises the movement and operation of the Smart Spider. The station also monitors and supervises the robot through a high-resolution PTZ camera while also ensuring that no side or space is left with any marks of dust, dirt, grime or carbon emissions.
THE BENEFITS
Smart Spider brings speed, safety, cleanliness, uniformity and efficiency to the extremely tedious process of cleaning facades of high-rises—that too within a value-driven price range. The machine is also capable of retrofitting existing cradle platforms and can be used in all weather. Most importantly, as this smart machine operates without human intervention, it eliminates the safety risks posed to facade cleaners and pedestrians and ensures privacy of occupants.
Candor TechSpace has already deployed its Smart Spider in its campuses and will be using it as a part of its product suite. Smart Spider can really be a gamechanger in the facility management space and with this, Candor continues to reaffirm its commitment to delivering smart, sustainable, productive, resilient and future-ready workplaces.