WINDOW GLASS CLEANING ROBOT

Submitted by:

V. S. Jeswanth (BE/10535/17)

K. Tejaswi (BE/10667/17)

Sanjeev Bhogta (BE/10564/17)

ME7002: Project report at the end of 7th Semester

Guided by:

Dr. S. S. Solanki
(Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering)

And

Dr. Richa Pandey

(Department of Mechanical Engineering)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We express our best regards to our project supervisors Dr. S. S. Solanki
(Department of Electronics and Communication) and Dr. Richa Pandey
(Department of Mechanical Engineering) under whose guidance we
were able to learn and apply the concepts presented in this project. Their
consistent supervision, constant inspiration and invaluable guidance
have been of immense help in carrying out this project work.

We are very grateful to Dr. D. P. Mishra, Professor and Head,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology,
Mesra for extending all the facilities, and giving valuable suggestions
at all times for pursuing this course.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SOURCES

For all bits of information utilised from sources (books, articles,

internet), care has been taken to mention the source in the main text or
at the end of the report in the form of full references. Quotation marks
have been used in order to reference the portions picked up from any
external sources. All images, pictures and diagrams reproduced from
the Internet and other such sources have been well labelled and
reaffirmed by use of the references to the same source.

We have endeavoured to keep the experience of this report as original

as possible and are highly thankful to all the sources of information that
were used for the fulfilment of the project. We do not intend to emulate
or imitate any other work during the course of our report.

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 ABSTRACT

Cleaning standard glass windows of business buildings may be a

necessity in-order to take care of an honest close work environment for
the staff. However, clean-up jobs are presently done by humans which
can involve heaps of risk. This project introduces a completely unique
style for a “Window glass cleaning Robot” which is able to climb the
windows of buildings and clean the outer surfaces.

The design incorporates the employment of motors hooked up to clean-

up pads which are able to clean the windows efficiently. Also, a
constitutional slider crank mechanism is employed to spray the home-
made clean-up liquid that works in synchronization with the motors and
clean-up pads. Suction cups are used to produce a vacuum so the
mechanism firmly presses against the glass surface whereas clean-up is
doled out. Appropriate pressure and speed determined from
experiments would be wont to lead to best clean-up of the pane surface.
The mechanism would be able to replace human effort and thereby cut
back the chance concerned.

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 CONTENTS
1. Introduction and Motivation
2. Literature Review
3. Description
4. Design of Glass Cleaning Robot
5. Parameters considered for Design
6. Computer Aided Designing (CAD MODEL)
7. Working Video of Suction Cups
8. Results
9. Bibliography

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 1. Introduction and Motivation:

Cleaning standard glass windows of economic buildings could

be a necessity in-order to keep up a decent close work
atmosphere for the workers. The cleansing jobs presently done
by humans involve a great deal of risk due to accidents. This
project introduces a style for cleansing robots which can climb
the windows of buildings and clean the outer surfaces. The
mechanism would be ready to replace human effort and thereby
cut back the danger.

Source: Google Images

Here, Figure 1 is presented with a picture with modern building

frontage that includes the external modular glass windows, which
are cleaned, washed or periodically inspected with the help of
human services that assure specific operations.

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 Source: Google Images

Figure 2 shows the current methods where workers are

suspended in the air using abseiling technique and cleaning
which are employed for carrying humans to various heights in-
order to aid the cleaning process. However, the workers need to
be skilled in this case. Furthermore, cleaning can also be carried
out by design of work platforms which may suffice with unskilled
workers. All these methods need a lot of safety and hence pose
a risk to the worker on site.

Hence, this project will aid in the cleaning process and thereby
reduce human effort. Also, it will reduce the risk involved in
cleaning of external glass buildings and at the same time improve
the working environment of the employees. This has been the
main motivation behind our choice of this project.

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 2. Literature Review:

A brief note on the literature that has been referred to in the due
course of this project. With the help of these reviews, a firm
understanding of certain important concepts were developed.

❖ Window Cleaning Apparatus:

INVENTORS:

Charles Allen; Richard Pawson

ABSTRACT:

A window cleaning system consists of an elongate wiping arm

that moves over the glass surface robotically to apply and
remove cleaning fluid.

❖ Cleaning Robot System and Method of Controlling:

INVENTORS:

Masjiro Hisatani, Hirotaka Oohashi.

ABSTRACT:

A cleaning robot device and a method of controlling it are

disclosed for cleaning plate-shaped members, such as solar
cells panels and reflecting mirrors, in photovoltaic and solar
thermal power generation systems, economically and with high
workability.
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❖ Autonomous Surface Cleaning Robot for Wet and Dry
Cleaning:

INVENTORS:

Andrew Ziegler, Arlington, Duane Gilbert

ABSTRACT:

An autonomous floor cleaning robot includes a transport drive

and system arranged for autonomous movement of the robot
over the bottom to perform cleaning operations. The robot
chassis carries a primary cleaning zone comprising cleaning
elements arranged to suction loose particulates up from the
cleaning surface and a second cleaning zone comprising
cleaning elements arranged to use a cleaning fluid.

❖ Semi- Automatic Exit Window Cleaner:

INVENTORS:

James J. Appel. Rochester; Edward A. Powers

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 ABSTRACT:

A wiper for touching an exit window is included in this semi-

automatic exit cleaner. When an operator-accessible
compartment or drawer is shifted beneficially, the wiper attaches
to a wiper operation mechanism that swipes the wiper across the
exit window. The operation of a Wiper mechanism includes a
cable located between the two pulleys where each of the two
pulleys are connected to a gear train.

❖ Design and Fabrication of a Wall Climbing Robot:

INVENTORS:

A. Albagul; O. Khalifa; M. Hrairi

ABSTRACT:

Described the planning and fabrication of Quadruped climbing robots.

This uses suction as a sticking mechanism and also uses a slider-crank
mechanism for the movement of the robot. This body is merely
designed to maneuver in linear motion.

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 3. Description:

The design incorporates the use of motors for the movement of

the body. Slider Crank Mechanism is used for this movement.
Suction cups are used to create a vacuum so that the robot firmly
presses against the glass surface while cleaning is carried out.
Suitable pressure and speed determined from experiments
would be used to result in optimal cleaning of the window glass
surface.

List of Components:

❖ ARDUINO

❖ BLDC MOTOR

❖ Optical Reflector Sensor

❖ Suction-Cup.

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❖ ARDUINO:

Arduino is an open-source physical computing platform. It is a little

microcontroller board with a USB plug. Arduino IDE is used to write,
compile and upload code to the board which is easy to understand.
No additional burner hardware required for programming the
Arduino board.

❖ BLDC MOTORS:

These transmit power to the wheels of the robot. Generally,

BLDC(brushless DC)motors with a gear set are used. These are
small in size , lightweight and highly efficient.

❖ Optical Reflector Sensor:

In the same housing as the sensors there will be a modulated

I.R. transmitter and receiver. When the beam is reflected back to
it due to an object travelling through the beam, the mounted
receiver produces an output signal. The sensitivity of this sensor
is determined by the reflectivity of an object.

❖ Suction-Cup:

Suction-cups are generally created up of elastic material such

as rubber or soft plastics. Vacuum suction-cups will hold,

lift or flip nearly any kind of material.

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They consist of the suction- cup (elastomer part) and a
connecting part. Suction-cups are used to grip and move work
items in a plant or on a golem.

A suction-cup will not attach itself to the surface of a work.

Instead, the close gas pressure (atmospheric pressure) presses
the suction- cup against the work as presently as the close
pressure is bigger than the pressure between the suction-cup
and the work piece

This pressure distinction is achieved by connecting the suction-

cup to a vacuum generator, that evacuates the air from the
house between the cup and therefore the work. If the suction-
cup is in touch with the surface of the work, no air will enter it
from the sides and a vacuum is generated.

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4. Design of Glass Cleaning Robot:

The robot is designed as seen in Fig 4.1. The design consists of

a vehicle made of aluminium so that it is extremely lightweight.

Also, cleaning is performed by using cleaning liquid, a scrubber

and a wiper. And also we use two motors for the movement of
the four vacuum cups which are used to move the body in vertical
motion. The motors are of BLDC type (brushless DC type).

Each motor is connected to a crank which is connected at the

middle of a rod and the ends of the rod is connected to the crank.
So here first the rotatory motion is converted to linear motion and
then the linear motion is converted to rotatory motion. This is a
double crank mechanism which is used in the movement of the
wheels of a train. This same mechanism is used on both sides to
transfer the rotatory motion from the motor to rotate the vacuum
cups.

Now for the movement of vacuum cups, we use a slider crank

mechanism.

Let us consider the movement of one leg. The movements of a

leg is shown in Fig 4.2.

Position 1: The crank is at 0 degrees with the slider and the

vacuum cup is not in contact with the surface.

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Position 2: The crank is at 90 degrees with the slider and the
vacuum cup is in contact with the surface but not attached. But it
is ready to be attached.

Position 3: The crank is at 180 degrees with the slider and the
vacuum cup is still attached to the surface.

Position 4: The crank is at 270 degrees with the slider and the
vacuum cup is still attached to the surface but it is about to detach
from the surface.

Fig 4.1: Design considered

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 Fig 4.2: Leg Positions

5. Parameters to be considered for Design:

Parameters Type

Cleaning Mechanism 3M high quality cleaning pads

Cleansing Liquid Spray actuated
Wiping Mechanism Normal Wipe
Structure Lightweight but robust
Operation Noiseless
Adherence to Glass Suction cup vacuum
Trolley Design Innovative and makes use of gears and
pulleys

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 Portability Easily portable

Maintenance Easy as pads are stitched together and

need replacement after long use. Other
spares are easily available.

6. Computer Aided Designing (CAD Model):

To create the final model, all of the components of the "Window

Glass Cleaning Robot" were planned and assembled in
SolidWorks. SolidWorks Student Edition was used to create the
CAD Model.

Objectives of CAD:

The primary goals of Computer Aided Design (CAD) are:

➔ To obtain a realistic representation of the model.

➔ To obtain the correct part orientation and dimensions for
manufacturing purposes.
➔ To aid in the manufacture of components by inspecting fine
specifications and developing engineering drawings for the
components and assembly.

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➔ The “Window Glass Cleaning” Robot model is created and shown
below.

Screenshots of Design of Window Glass Cleaning Robot

Side View

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Top View

Front View

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 3D View
Animation of Solid Works Model

climbing robot.mp4

7. Working video of Suction Cups:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13TG6PHhetbx7
ckkmkxEEEUXaOnAfWT4t/view?usp=sharing

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 8. Results:
The CAD Model of the "Window Glass Cleaning Robot" was
designed along with all components in Solidworks 2019 and also
the working of the motors and Suction cups are shown in the
above video.

9. Bibiliography:

❖ "Towards Flapping Wing Control for a Micromechanical Flying

Insect," by J. Yan, R. J. Wood, S. Avadhanula, M. Sitti, and R.
S. Fearing, in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and
Automation, Seoul, Korea, 2001, pp. 3901-3908.

❖ Design of a cleaning robot device for a building's exterior glass

walls, Annals of the Oradea University, fascicle of management
and technical engineering, issue #1, July 2013,
http://www.imtuoradea.ro/auo.fmte.

❖ Functional model and simulation of a pneumatic model, afferent

to prehension vacuum system. Tocuţ, P. D., Pop, A., Arcă, R.
C. TMT 2007, Hammamet, Tunisia, 5-9 September 2007. 11th
International Research/Expert Conference on "Trends within
the Development of Machinery and Associated Technology".

❖ M. Murphy, M. Sitti, “Waalbot: An Agile SemiAutonomous Wall

Climbing Robot”

❖ Chun- Hung Chen, Vijay Kumar, “Motion Planning of Walking

Robots in Environment with Uncertainty”.

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❖ “Gecko Inspired Surface Climbing Robots,” IEEE Intl Conf. on
Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), Shenyang, China, 2004. C.
Menon, M. Murphy, M. Sitti, “Gecko Inspired Surface Climbing
Robots,” IEEE Intl Conf. on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO),
Shenyang, China, 2004.

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