Fully automated facade cleaning robot for a high-rise building in Munich, Germany

The Fraunhofer Institute of Factory Operation and Automation IFF has developed and constructed an automated facade cleaning robot SIRIUSc for use on the headquarters of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The robot system consists of a cleaning unit, a fully automated rooftop gantry crane, a human machine interface, and an integrated building management control system. The robot is supported by cables connected to the gantry at the top of a facade and travels down its side. It employs the kinematic principle of the 'advance sliding module' to move quickly and efficiently along the facade and does not need guide rails mounted on the building's facade. The robot cleans as it ascends the facade so that its vacuum grippers do not leave tracks. With help of it the facility management staff will be able to clean the facade without any technical support from the researchers at the building

Kinematics, sensors and control of the fully automated facade-cleaning robot SIRIUSc for the Fraunhofer headquarters building, Munich

The Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF has developed the automatic facade cleaning robot SIRIUSc for use on the Fraunhofer-Gesellschafts headquarters, a high-rise building in Munich, Germany. The building has a height of 80rn, its facade an area of 4000 m(2). Apart from the robot that moves along and cleans the facade, the complete, fully automated system consists of a fully automated gantry that secures, supplies energy to and above all positions the robot. Part of the project involved completely automating a standard gantry, which is an integral part of the complete facade cleaning robot system. This article presents an overview of the significant basic functions of the robot and the gantry, emphasizing the kinematics, the control and sensor systems for navigation and the cleaning sequence that employs the extensive fully automatic functions of the robot and gantry

Development of fully automatic inspection systems for large underground concrete pipes partially filled with wastewater

The Emschergenossenschaft based in Germany is currently planning the Emscher sewer system, arguably the largest residential water management project in Europe in years to come. The Emschergenossenschaft engaged the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation (IFF) in Magdeburg, Germany, as the general contractor to develop automatic inspection and cleaning systems to meet the requirements imposed by legal guidelines. The systems must operate continuously in a sewer line that has diameters ranging from 1400 to 2800 mm and is partially filled, 25% at minimum, all the time. To construct the Emscher sewer system, the Emschergenossenschaft favors a one-pipe line in long sections. A walk-through or inspection by personnel would be impossible in these sections. The Fraunhofer Institute IFF has developed prototypes of all systems for motion through the sewer and all sensor systems, thus achieving a new quality of inspection above and below the water line under these difficult conditions. This article describes significant project results and important components of inspection such as the inspection systems, pipe axis measurement, system positioning, and sensor systems for damage detection. Fundamental for the development of the inspection systems is the detail of the inspection, which goes far beyond the video inspection common today, and the ability to take comparative measurements throughout the sewer system's period of operation in order to track the development of damage