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Robotics

Window-cleaning robots hang out in New York for world-first deployment

By Paul Ridden
August 29, 2024
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Skyline Robotics says that "1133 Avenue of the Americas is now the only skyscraper in the world utilizing an automated window cleaning system"
Skyline Robotics
Skyline Robotics says that "1133 Avenue of the Americas is now the only skyscraper in the world utilizing an automated window cleaning system"
Skyline Robotics
The Ozmo system is currently controlled by a human operator on the building's roof
Skyline Robotics
Ozmo robots clearing the view
Skyline Robotics
Force sensors ensure that each Ozmo bot applies just the right amount of pressure "to clean windows superbly"
Skyline Robotics
View gallery - 4 images

A 45-story office tower in New York has become the first in the world to deploy the Ozmo automated window cleaning system, where a platform dangled from the roof is home to robots that spritz the glass 3x faster than human cleaning crews.

The Ozmo setup essentially mounts a pair of Kuka robotic arms to a cleaning platform that hangs from the roof of a tower, and equips each with a brush head and water.

There are force sensors in play that help the cleaning bot to judge how fragile a window pane is, and apply the appropriate pressure for an efficient wash. The company reports that the window cleaning bot employs LiDAR sensors for localization and positioning, while artificial intelligence algorithms ensure stability even in gusty conditions.

At the moment, team Ozmo is controlled via a computer operator on the roof of the building, so there's still a role for human workers, but full autonomy is on the cards for the future. This will not only help fill a "growing labor shortage of window cleaners" but will also "keep humans out of harm's way."

The Ozmo system is currently controlled by a human operator on the building's roof
Skyline Robotics

Skyline Robotics has been developing and testing the system for a few years now, but the deployment at the 1133 Avenue of the Americas building in New York – which is owned and managed by the Durst Organization – represents the start of global rollout.

The next city in line will likely be across the pond in London, where Skyline has partnered with Principle Cleaning Services for future deployment in the UK capital. Patents have also been secured in Japan and Singapore to support rollouts farther afield.

"Together with our partners Palladium Window Solutions and The Durst Organization, Skyline Robotics is changing centuries of tradition and the landscape of Manhattan forever with our advanced technology," said Skyline's CEO, Michael Brown. "We're delivering the future of façade maintenance as Ozmo and human window cleaners work in unison to protect the health of buildings faster and safer than existing solutions."

The video below from the Durst Organization shows Ozmo in action at 1133 Avenue of the Americas.

Source: Skyline Robotics

View gallery - 4 images

Tags

RoboticsMaintenanceWindowsSkyscrapersCleaningRobots
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Paul Ridden
While Paul is loath to reveal his age, he will admit to cutting his IT teeth on a TRS-80 (although he won't say which version). An obsessive fascination with computer technology blossomed from hobby into career before hopping over to France for 10 years, where he started work for New Atlas in 2009. Now back in his native Blighty, he serves as Managing Editor in Europe.
10 comments
vince
Excellent usage of robotics to save human lives. Have wonder though of possible harm to pedestrians if something falls (mop, window glass, robot, etc) who will shout to warn those below??
Smokey_Bear
Vince - They actually yell out "heads up"....but it's in computer code.
01001000 01100101 01100001 01100100 01110011 00100000 01110101 01110000
PAV
I didn't see the squeegee. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
MarylandUSA
Vince, the New York Times wrote in 2019: "Entrepreneurs often point to the danger involved in cleaning skyscrapers when making the case for robots, possibly because it’s more politic than saying that time is rarely on the side of tradition and that most jobs that can be automated eventually are. The truth is that nationwide there are only a handful of window-washing deaths each year."
Rocky Stefano
@vince - Who is going to hear a yell from 20 stories up?
Nelson
Why is it billionare morons likwe Musk and Bezos are so worried about dopping populations when they are investing so hard in AIU to make more and more humans obsolete?
veryken
Finally something robotic that makes total sense and satisfying to see outside the factory production line. No shame in looking like robots because THEY ARE robots.
Techutante
They also point to a labor shortage, because you need a special kind of brass balls to do that job, which probably doesn't pay all that well TBH.
Alan
So will the now unemployed window washer be trained as a computer programmer or web developer?
ljaques
CHEAT! They're not even using squeegees. I imagine that one of those systems couldn't cost more than a couple three years of a window washer's salary. Good idea.
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